Power and Cycling
I am a truly powerful cyclist, No… no I don’t have a power meter to prove my power out-puts and nor should I have too, but if SRM, CycleOps, Speedplay etc, are reading this post I would love a power meter to add to my list of cycling equipment. (Polar need not apply)
I must admit that I am not an above average cyclist. Due to being a tall cyclist I have a huge amount of experience in solo efforts off the back of a bunch. Now I’m normally off the back of the bunch as I feel that breaking away out the front isn’t enough of a challenge as chasing. I’m also a shy introverted person and fame would not go well with my personality.
For me I love a good chase. Very rarely do I deliberately allow myself to let the door open on a bunch ride. It generally opens when I switch off or have a brain fart. Brain farts with me area very common thing, hence I tend to do most of my riding solo (please note I called it riding and not training – training would refer to me having enough motivation to take up racing).
How do I know I have awesome power I hear you ask…. well I managed to have a 14 tooth sprocket on my cluster shatter, disintegrate to pieces. Now this is due to intense power output.. no doubt!
As the cluster was a Campagnolo Record 10 Speed cluster and Campaganolo being one of the companies that I sponsor (Yes I buy their products – they have not yet seen my true potential as a non professional social cyclist) Yes Campagnolo I
believe you should sponsor Tall Cyclist. Well if not sponsor then put me down as a heavy weight component tester program. Oh I’ll give you feedback when things go
wrong. The single piece of the sprocket I did manage to find has taken pride of place on my key ring so that I can remember daily about my awesome power output or complete single sprocket failure. As a Campagnolo product evangelist I will go with the awesome power. Sure maybe the cluster had been on the bike for more the 5000km and was due for replacement at some point (Due to a new cycling budget – this had been postponed!).
I would also like to point out that the clustr or bike had not been cleaned for the pictures. I keep my machines as clean as possible at all times. The “Bike Cleaning” post is to follow soon.
On Top of the Savoie
A view from the top of a climb we did on Day 2 of the six day Mancation, Please use the mouse over the image to view the complete picture. It’s a panoramic shot… enjoy!
The Mancation
Well is time to get the trip plans up, Below is a loose look at what I’ll be up to over July, the only dates are that will not change at this stage are any flights (pending airlines having other ideas). Yes it’s Mancation (wikipedia= all-male bonding vacation) time come this July. Well to be totally honest… I’ll be off to Africa to catch up with a few of my family members.
Yes the African family… aka “The African Savages” (niece: aged 9, nephew age 2, Sister: age not to be mentioned!, Brother In-Law (top bloke), and The Phoenix. I will be spending the final Mancation lead up training in the deepest darkest africa. Fear not as I’m sure I’ll survive the first two week as the Alpine Dream will be just around the corner. If anyone else is heading over, drop me a line… a beer and a laugh must be shared.
Wednesday 1 July:
Fly to Durban, South Africa, catch up with family and do some local club rides to keep the legs turning over.
Friday 3 July:
Time to get back on the bike after the long flight over. Hill repeats are on the cards… 1.5 hours
Saturday 4 July:
Heading out with Sharks Cycle Club from Durban North to Ballito… no idea where we are going, just know it’s 85km ride.
Sunday 5 July:
round 60km spin, nothing to fast. Pure recovery ride.
Wednesday 8 July:
Same as the 3rd July (nothing but climbing)
Wednesday 14 July:
Fly to London, bike will be in storage until heading to Geneva.
Saturday 18th July:
fly into Geneva, hop on the tour coach at around 6pm for my transfer to the town of Faverges where we will call home for 6 nights, Best Western Hotel Florimont. It’s time to get the bike built and ready for the first day
Sunday 19th July:
The pros will hit the Alps on a 207km stage (bugger that!). The tour lads will drop us off around Chamonix, we have a 50km day over and down the Col de la Forclaz to the base of the climb to Verbier. From here we will climb back into the coach and watch the Pro’s do there thing as they tear past us, th rest will be watched on the coach’s TV while we head back to base camp.
Monday 20th July:
2nd Rest Day in Verbier for the Pros, from what I can tell we have a number of options open to us kicking off with climbs of the Col du Forclaz, Col des Saisies, Col des Aravis, Col de la Colombiere are all on the table for us to take on, I’m tipping one or maybe two of these big girls will see me having a good sleep this night, a lighter option is a circuit of the crystal blue waters of Lake Annecy
Tuesday 21st July:
Our location in Faverges allows excellent access to today’s stage, and those with bikes will have the choice of riding to the final climb of the stage, Col du Petit St Bernard or the finish in Bourg St Maurice.
Wednesday 22nd July:
Our location in Faverges could not be better for accessing today’s stage, we can roll out from the hotel to the stage (sweet). Today is a self ride tour as we will be able to head off to any of the following mountains: Col des Saisies, Cote d’Araches, Col de Romme or the final climb of the Col de la Colombiere. Or even head over to the stage finish in Le Grand Bornand. Too many options can be a bad thing, I’ll need to research all of the above before making a decision.
Thursday 23rd July:
The hotel is only 8km from Lake Annecy and the time trial circuit. We have numerous options of riding to see the stage, either by the bike path that takes you all the way to Annecy town or via the beautiful Col du Forclaz that takes you to the Col de Bluffy climb that features in the Time Trial. Top day in my book, still doubt we’ll get near the Pro’s as they’ll be locked away in their little safety village.
Friday 24th July:
It’s a quick breakfast and load the coach with nothing more than a cyclist tan, a few photos and some great memories while I head back to London before returning home to Brisbane.
The road to the alps.
In 98 days I will be at the foot of the Swiss Alps. Chasing Lance, if he makes it due to the collarbone thing he’s got going on. With time no longer on my side the training is now underway to get some miles in the legs before flying out to South Africa for two weeks before I head to London and onto Geneva to pick up my tour group.
Road to the Alps
The road to the Alps for me is the paved with plenty of frequent flyer miles. As mention above, the training is underway. After an inspirational chat to a former “Australian Road Championship” the training and attitude to training is about to change. The old rule of not riding in the rain… is out the window, today I actually pedaled off from home into the pouring rain with nothing other than getting k’s into the legs on my mind. My new house of pain is going to be Mt Mee which kicks off early next week.
Mt. Cotton Kermesse
The following short video is on the Elite A Grade Men Mt. Cotton Kermesse race held on 29 March 2009. My apologies for the quality but it was a busy day running mad to get some pictures and running my helmet cam, either by hand or at street level. If you want to see some pictures from this race head over to the Gallery.
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