Pre-Season Training Camp in Calpe - Part 1!

So I'm sat in a bar on the seafront in sunny Calpe in Spain, watching the waves crashing in after a gentle recovery ride this morning. Temperature is a mild 13 degrees, but looking to warm up next week!

We arrived Tuesday afternoon and had an easy transfer from Airport to Bus Station, the 1km walk to the apartment was not so easy... with a 32kg bike bag and 20kg luggage... it took quite a while...



HEAVY!

Once we arrived we went for 1h30 at a steady zone 2 pace, just to prepare our legs for our first 3 day block of training. It was a lovely ride along the Coastal road towards Xabia, a great view and a cracking way to start the 3 weeks out here! The plan is to start steady this week with some long mileage, before using the last 2 weeks for some high intensity specific sessions to prepare the body for the long season ahead... We began our first 3 day block with a 4 hour ride with a couple of other lads, one from the area and a guy from Team Isle of Man. The ride was steady with a couple of lumps but mainly flat, we stopped at a café for lunch and rode steadily back to Calpe, an average speed of 17.5mph, not quick but it was very windy. Day 2 of the block was a 5 hour ride including 7,200ft and taking in the amazing Col du Rates near Altéa, we rode steady up most of the climbs, and smashed down the descents! I was feeling really strong and managed to spend the last 45 minutes on the front driving us back towards Calpe, a great route and a great ride... So much so that we used the same route yesterday to complete the training block!



Climbing!

This time we rode much harder up the climbs including a huge pull up Col du Rates, averaging around 14mph for the 4-5 mile ascent, I was feeling strong and can definately feel my climbing improving with every ride! We followed the Project 1t41 Pro Cycling Team down the descent for half an hour, and spent the rest of the ride going hard back into Calpe. Matt and I decided to do an extra few miles taking in a local 4 mile climb up to Benissa before descending back into Calpe again. Ended up doing 90 miles at 18.1mph with 8,500ft of climbing. Very pleased with this first block, I was feeling strong, climbing well, and loving it! Long may it continue...

We took a steady 1 hour ride today to recover before we do our first specific session tomorrow, SPRINT TRAINING! My favourite.

Will write again next week! Enjoy the snow everyone... :)

Ciao.



East London Velo Winter Series Round 4

Saturday 4th Febuary... The coldest day of the year... I know... I'll go and smash it around a tarmac track for an hour... what fun!

Yesterday I raced at the Hog Hill cycle circuit in East London, conditions were bright, but ominously cold as the car showed a chilly -1 degrees... We arrived bright and early at the track, got changed and went for a walk round so I could take in the circuit. It consisted of an undulating start followed by a long descent, half a mile of flat, winding section, then a drag up to the final bend with a steep kick to finish. A tough circuit.

Nick & I warming up...



I warmed up on the rollers for 20 minutes before getting out on to the track, doing one quick circuit and it was time to begin! The race started FAST with Zappi's rider Nick Baker tearing away from the gun. The race soon settled down though as lots of attacks went away and were brought back almost immediately, including a few attacks of my own that did not last. I soon settled in the peloton so my legs could recover. After about 30 mins a Maldon CC rider went up the road and was soon joined by Roger Maidment of East London Velo, these guys worked strongly together to pull out a gap of almost a minute, and maintained this to the finish where Cousins of Maldon took the victory from Maidment.



Early Breakaway Attempt... Which Failed.

Meanwhile in the bunch things were spicing up as we hit the final lap and there was a small group just ahead of us, they were brought back with 3/4 of a lap to go and we flew round the flat section of the course at a high pace. With around 400m to go the sprint started, I thought this was slightly to soon, but these 4 managed to maintain a slight gap over the rest of us at the line. I saved my kick for the final 150m where I pushed past the 3 guys at the front of the bunch and rolled over the line in 7th

place.

Report: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20120204-road-Road--Cousins-fastest-in-ELV-Series-0

Overall, a much better race then my last one at Hillingdon, more enjoyable, better legs, better result, can't argue with that! Climbing is improving... Sprinting is improving... Recovery was not great today but that could be down to the cold weather. Pretty pleased to get another few points on the licence before the season begins, and to get a decent result before I head to Spain on Tuesday. Spain is a great opportunity to really fine tune the legs before the first big road race on March 4th, the Severn Bridge RR.

On a side note, we had our first team photo with Dream Cycling last weekend in Bath:

Dream Cycling Team & Team Issue Giant TCR Advanced 2 Bike.

Ciao.

January Training

So as we come to the end of the first month of 2012, it seems the racing season is getting ever closer and all the top riders have been getting in some big mileage since the new year. My training has been no different as after a quiet Christmas period, I hit the miles big time in the 2nd week of the year. I began with a strong 5-day block of 18 hours, then since then have got in a couple more 15 hour weeks, and in total I have ridden 1005 miles in January. In general I have been feeling a lot stronger, and now feel it is time to start putting in a few high intensity sessions to try and hit the season with some form in early March.
I am going away to Spain on Tuesday for a 3 week pre-season training camp with a group of lads including my new team mate Rob Yeatman. We should be getting in some more big mileage whilst including some high intensity focussed training sessions to prepare us for the first big road race of the season when we return. The first road race for the team is going to be the Severn Bridge RR on 4th March, usually run with a very competitive field, it should be a great early season leg tester!!

Keep training guys!

Ciao.