Hill Repeats

So, with no-one to ride with tonight and Thursday being my regular ride slot, I decided to try something new with a view to improving my fitness: enter, hill repeats. What on earth!? I read a bunch of stuff on the Internet (like this and this article), figured out what I needed to do - as well as justifying why I was doing it - and, having decided on a good place for it, headed off to a nearby lane. As this is officially "training" rather than "riding" (the latter involving friends and/or cafe stops), I dug out the HRM that I haven't used in an age then rode up to the "start". I figured as this was my first time I'd go easy and just aim to do 8 repeats not quite all the way to the top of the hill. For me the first time I do anything is all about getting to know the lie of the land. On the hill I'd chosen, the last part is the steepest, so the plan is to work up to the full length of the hill when I'm comfortable doing 8 shorter reps.

The first climb was tough. My legs weren't that warm - the ride in was fairly short - so I was slogging up there with the mind chatter already kicking in ("Why are you doing this? This is going to be so boring!" And so on..). One done, 7 more to go. Maybe I'll just do 6? Maybe James will be along to pick up the house key? If he gets here at 5, that'll do for the first time... mind chatter central. After 2, 3, 4, .. James appears, I give him the key, he goes. Well, I'm here to do at least 5 so I'll stay on for 6 then see how I feel. 6 comes and goes. Not so bad! I pass a woman with her dog, me on the way up, her on the way down. I pass her again on the way down. And on the way back up. She thinks I'm nuts. I pass a neigbour on the way back down. Then on the way back up, and down again. She asks if I'm going up again and looks shocked that, yes, one more. And up I go. 7 and then 8; my legs are warm and I'm starting to enjoy it. Maybe next time I'll do 9 or 10. Or just do 8 and push harder? Whatever. First ever attempt at hill repeats and it felt good.




Reps: 8
Max. heart rate: 162 bpm
Ascent: 372m
Distance: 7.21 miles
Time: 46 mins

Going Solo

On Saturday I did my first 4-hour solo race. Signing up seemed like a good idea at the time. I'd ridden with Grace in a just-for-fun Mayhem team of 4 last year and sort of had the racing bug, and she told me about the event -- Stilettos on Wheels, which would be the first women-only XC race in the UK. This sounded like great idea, so I ummed and ahhed for a while, then -- as part of the pro-women push I've been pretty vocal about in the mountain bike club --  started trying to persuade some of the new women in the club to sign up. To show willing I also put my name down, having decided I would rather spend Saturday doing that than attend the free Bikeability training I'd been offered by Breeze. Turning down a weekend in Brum to get a free qualification in favour of a day sliding around in rooty, muddy field, and slogging my guts out for 4 hours straight? Oh, yes please.

Friday, the day before the race arrived. I'd persuaded two girls from the club to sign up and they were riding in the 4-hour pairs category. It was their first ever race and they were giving me a lift, so no backing out. I was starting to wonder whether 4-hour solo was a good idea. I had a love/hate relationship with Mayhem last year, and one of my motivations for doing SOW was to put myself into a rooty, muddy XC hell-hole situation so that when I return to Mayhem this year the conditions won't be such a hideous shock to the system. Peaks mud and rocks are entirely different to that claggy, clay crap that XC racers seem to gravitate towards, and I was totally unprepared for that type of course. My big, fat, rock-happy tyres weren't going to be right so I'd changed them before the race to run some Panaracer Fire XC Pros, which were about as much use as banana skins. I came off on the roots, I had no confidence in the corners, I was having a properly shit time. When the course dried out I put my big fatties back on and things were much better, but they were no good in thick mud, and there was still plenty of that around. SOW would give me chance to try out a setup in similar conditions to Mayhem -- all good preparation for this year's attempt.

The other thing on my mind was food. I haven't ridden hard for 4 hours in a race environment and after my recent "bonk" I was worried I'd run out of fuel and have a terrible time. I spent Friday getting everything ready, figuring out how much I needed to eat and when, what I was going to wear, cleaning the bike and checking it over, remember any extras, packing every item of clothing - as required by the confused state of the weather - and finally, figuring out my game plan; 8 laps in 4 hours and make it to the finish. Sorted.

Race day came. I had butterflies. I wanted an excuse not to go but was also excited about it. Helen and I chattered away on the way over, trying not to think about it. When we arrived I was surprised that there didn't seem to be that many cars there. I thought there would be more, so immediately felt a bit disappointed with my own efforts to network the event. Next year I'll try harder.

slogging it out on the home straight

Registering I took a look at the sheet: 16 in my category, some associated with clubs that have the name "Velo" in the name, meaning they're probably quite good. But that's okay. My plan is just to get round, do the best I can, and have a good time.

Setting off in the pack, everyone dashed off and I tried really hard not to get caught up in the dash up the grassy hill, knowing pacing myself was the only way I would manage to ride the whole time. The first lap was hard. I hadn't ridden the course beforehand, figuring I'd be seeing enough of it over the next fours hours (round and round and round) so I wasn't warmed up at all. I had a few moments where I was wondering what the heck I was doing, but soon silenced the dialogue, knowing that would be my downfall. One lap in was no time to fall into that trap!

Up the hill and then into the woods. This is where the sticky mud, slippy roots, and twisty single track took over. I was somewhere near the back of the pack by then and the route had already been churned up by the riders in front. I caught up with Grace and we rode along chattering for a while. Relax, smile, settle in. So far so good. Then the descent section came. Who-whoo!!! That was fun and over all to quickly, then it was time to pound back to the finish and head round again for another lap. A quick rest at the solo pit (I seem unable to eat while riding when I'm on my MTB!) and I set off again. Another lap. This one was better; I was warm and starting to enjoy myself. My brain was desperately trying to trip me up (6 laps to go! 6 WHOLE laps to go! Oh. No!) but I was onto it, countering with "wow, this is so much fun!" which seemed to work.

Lap 3 came. Now I was enjoying myself. I just had to get past the climb, then it was into the woods, and I would soon be at the over-all-too-quickly fun descent. On the second lap I took the Hard line towards the end. Awesome, over in flash, and fun enough that I wanted to do it again. I had right of way coming out of it and passed a couple of girls joining the trail from the easy line. Well the only way to do that is to go round again, so off I went.

Half way through Lap 4 I checked the watch. I was going faster than I thought I would and was ahead of schedule. Not wanting to burn out I decided to have a longer pit stop before setting off for my next lap. Arriving at the pit, I popped to the loo and set out to get some fresh water. This was a bit of a faff, then I noticed my bike was full of crud, so another mini mission to get some water. Thanks to the parents of another competitor, I rinsed it down a bit, then saw Jill, who'd had a bit of a distastrous first (and last) lap, so popped over to see she was okay. I'd just got over to her when Helen came back after her second (and last) lap, so quickly said hi, then headed back out for my next lap. Lap 5, just gone 2pm, on target.

Lap 5 was nice, Lap 6 was okay. I was pretty much on my own now -- was anyone else still riding!? -- and enjoying the ride, enjoying the fact that I'd made it this far. Somewhere on this lap I got chatting to #2 who suggested I was in second place. I assumed she had me confused with someone else, so just plodded on, wondering when I would get sick of it all. Then came Lap 7. Now I was dead tired. I couldn't find my food and my pockets were full of mud! This was definitely my last lap. I'd had enough. Then the final descent through the trees. Whoop!!! Oh, that was fun. Time to do it again? No, I decided. Lap 7 would be my last. I almost couldn't see straight and had had a silly off on a root earlier. Another lap would be suicide.

Through the finish with Helen and Jill waiting for me. 35 minutes to go and they reckoned it only took me 28 last time -- I could do it, they said. Really? I was so close to quitting, but I had wanted 8 laps, so could I really sit for the next 35 minutes knowing I would never know if I didn't try? To cheers from Jill and Helen, I set off for my last and final lap. All I had to do was stay on the bike to that fun descent and I was home. Number 2 (Rebecca) had just gone past me. I knew she would be pushing to get round in time so I just had to catch up with her and I'd make it back too. I managed to catch her, despite nearly coughing up a lung pushing up the grassy hill before the woods, and stuck on her wheel until, disaster! Going into the final descent, she went left on the Easy track and endo'd! Oh no! I had no idea how long we had to get back so I panicked, asked if she was okay, she said yes, so off I went! That's the downside of racing -- leaving a girl picking herself out of the brambles because I didn't want to be disqualified. I felt terrible about that after but I was so focused on making the cut-off I just buggered off without giving it too much thought until later.

The last few hundred metres or so were so damned hard. But there was the finish. When the clock came into view, 5 minutes left - hurray!! I'd made it! I was in a total spin, relieved just to get back, chuffed to have managed a whole 8 laps. The bike was still in intact, just. I was still intact, just. Success!

So what about the results? Well, that's the funny thing. I ended up in 4th place, only two and a bit minutes behind #5, who came in 3rd. And there's the rub. At no point did I know how I was doing, but it seems I was doing pretty damned well up until I stopped for a tea break. Who knew!? I really had no idea. I was thrilled to have managed the 8 laps, but the knowing that if I hadn't faffed as much I might have made third place has taken me a few days to deal with. I've also spent quite a lot of time worrying about leaving #2 in the brambles, so if you're reading this Rebecca, I'm so sorry and hope you were really okay! I had a great time during the event and it was great fun to be in an all-female environment; being chased down the trails by girls is much less stressful than being rammed off the track by a testosterone-fuelled race machine, so I will definitely be taking part in future events and will also try harder to make sure my riding pals are in the line up. I suspect if everyone I usually ride with takes part the podium will be way out of reach, since most of them are faster than me, but I'll cut down my faff time just in case!

Food Glorious Food Part 2: What does it all mean!?

So, I've bonked on my ride, puked up the next day and nursed myself through a power-headache, all for the love of cycling. So why did it happen and how can I stop it happening again? Well, the Internet is a wonderful place, and there are plenty of resources for folks like me who have never real thought about this stuff before. Some are more authoritative and scientific; others are discussions on forums, where folks like me have asked these questions before. That's where I started. Here's what I learned.

Any physical activity burns calories. We all know that, right, but what exactly does it mean? Well, it means that if you burn more calories you need to eat more. Not rocket science, no, but what the heck should we eat and when? Is it okay to burn 1500 calories on Saturday then binge drink your way through the week to make up the loss? See, not so silly to ask these questions after all...

Now before I get all geeky about this I just want to say one more thing. The food/miles issue has never ever come up before on social rides. On a ride with friends I know there will be cafe stops (at least one) and then there are the rest stops en route -- the ones at the tops and bottoms of hills, where we all regroup, providing ample time for a refuel if needed. I have no problem feeding myself on rides like these; in fact the frequent snack stops are my favourite parts of the ride. No, the problem is when I'm on my own, because then I get it in my head there's no time to stop, no point in stopping. Maybe it's a security thing? I don't know. Whatever the reason, when I'm on my own I m on a mission and that's the end of it. So the other part of this lesson is educating myself about ways to eat that don't involved lengthy, social chat stops -- the lesson for those rides is learning about food as fuel.

So, what do we need when there's no time for a cake and butty stop but you still have many miles ahead of you?

Well, the first thing is you need to know how much fuel you need to keep going. To figure this out you need to find a way to log the mileage you're doing and perform the necessary calculations for your age, height, and weight. If you have a GPS and use this to track your rides, the chances are you have this information to hand already. Use it. Study it. Try and figure out a rough guestimate for the different types of rides you do, considering terrain, distance, speed, etc. All those things affect how much fuel you need. When you have this you should end up with a figure for the number of calories you need per hour of activity. So far so good. For me I'm looking at about 300 calories per hour on a "regular" ride. Anything above "normal" levels of activity (races, etc.) I will need more than this.

Second, figure out what you can actually manage to eat while riding. It's one thing sitting down for a butty and swilling it all down with a cup of tea, but if you're pushing yourself hard you need to embrace food as fuel and keep it simple. There are a tonne of products out there to help with this: gels, energy bars (usually dried fruit mixtures, some with oats, etc.) and also energy drinks. When you start looking at these the wide range and different definitions will blow your mind. I haven't figured out what I like yet, so have bought a stack of different products and will just try them out as a ride. Some I'll like, some I won't. I'm hoping that I end up finding one that I can make really cheaply for myself. The products don't need to be specialist sport bars either. Products like Nakd fruit bars and others are available from most whole food shops. Basically what you want are slow release carbs, from dried fruit, oats, etc., and it also helps to have a stash of simple sugars for a speedy fuel injection; jelly babies are as good as a fancy energy gel -- think of this as your get out of jail food.

Then you do need to actually keep track of what you eat, not just during the ride but before and after. I've started doing this because I was worried I wasn't eating enough. My weight was stable but my body fat % was increasing, which suggested that maybe I was in "starvation mode" and my body was storing fat to get me through periods of exertion because I couldn't be relied upon to feed myself properly. I've been using My Fitness Pal, on the recommendation of a Breeze participant, for a couple of weeks now, and it makes pretty interesting reading. Basically, I haven't been eating enough for the riding I'm doing, so now I have a chance to rectify that, which will make me a stronger, healthier, happier rider. Plus I to get to eat more -- marvellous! Saying that, *when* I eat more needs to change too. I still don't eat enough on ride days. Refuelling after is important, and one way to do this is to include a protein shake of some sort into your day. Again, there are a tonne of products out there, some of which are very much aimed at blokes, so lots of focus on muscle gain, others of which are for muscle repair. The products I'm trying (again, trial and error is the way forward) are to assist repair and contain a balance of carbs and protein plus some other vitamins and minerals. I've been trying a few products out after all my recent rides and they have really helped me up my calorie intake to a level that matches my activity level.

So is there any more to say on this? Well, yes, actually there is! But that's enough for now... More to follow.

Food Glorious Food Part 1: My First Bonk

So, every girl likes something to eat while out on a social ride with pals, and since most of my riding up to this point has been "social" and involved cafe stops, rest stops at the tops of hills, etc. I'd never really given food much thought. Then two things happened: first, my OH bought some scales with a body fat thing on it, and second, I had my first proper on-bike bonk.

First, let's talk about the bonk. Basically, rode over to join some Glow buddies for a gentle, social A-ride complete with cafe stop -- so far so good -- then headed off on a very long-winded route that involved a rather late lunch (check) over at Trafford topped off with the ride back home. That's when the trouble started. I had no proper food, just some jelly babies. There was a head wind. It had been a long day, I was tired, and there were hills ahead -- if I avoid hills, I can't get home. I knew what was coming, knew I had nothing left, and suspected that if I wasn't rescued I would spend the rest of my life cold and shivering in a bush beside the road being licked to death by stray, smelly cats. Ugh, I was miserable! My OH phones -- he might be coming home early. Elation! I can get to a nice, warm pub and he can pick me up (so I can miss out that last hill!). He phones again. Change of plan. But I'll be alright wont' I? Yes, I say wearily, I can get home. And I know I can if I have to. And it seems that I have to. Best crack on then... So I do. I shovel jelly babies into my mouth. I would inhale them, if I could. I have a few left in the bag, enough to get me close enough to home for the homing instinct to kick in. I just have to get passed a few more hills. I am almost out of water but I'm thirsty and I can feel my pulse racing faster than usual. I need to relax, stop rushing, relax, get home.

I get home. Thank you cycling Gods and Goddesses. I eat, guzzle herbal tea, take a shower, put on my snuggly fleece pants (more about them another day), and start to feel human again. All Good.

So Sunday comes around. It's a nice day and we're off for a walk in the Peaks. But wait, I feel like shit. We set off in the car, but half way to our start I feel so bad we turn round and come home. I feel like I have a hangover and am not too impressed to be curled up on the sofa in a ball, nursing a sore head, and wondering whether I can hold down solids. I know it's not a hangover, but if feels like one so I try and AlkaSeltzer (my secret weapon in the war against hangovers) and thankfully it works. I am back on my feet but still feeling a little run down, so out comes the laptop and the Googling begins.

headache nausea after a ride
ride nutrition
when to eat
etc.

I read a whole lot of stuff on a whole lot of websites.

While I'm mulling this over, reading up about ride nutrition, I also start pondering a few other things.
I used to use electrolytes in my water, but ran out a while back and hadn't ordered some more. Since AlkaSeltzer fixed me and hydration had definitely been an issue, maybe it was time to stock up and start using them again?

The other thing niggling at me is those damned scales. The OH is having his own personal fitness revival, so introduced these electronic blighters into our life, and they give me a body fat % reading that is not entirely pleasing. I'm small -- I know that, but while I'm thinking about nutrition the things I'm reading suggest maybe I'm not eating right now I'm riding more. I definitely eat, but not necessarily the right things at the right times. Maybe now I'm riding harder, further, I'm not eating enough?

So the result of all this is that I've decided I need to pay attention to this stuff, especially when I ride on my own because that tends to be when I don't stop, just put my head down and go. The journey into nutrition begins...