Winter, TV & films

So Christmas is over again, the mince pies have been dispatched and the weather has returned to normal - wind and rain! The motivation to get out on the bike plummets around this time of year anyway, but the sight and sound of rain splattering against panes of glass makes the process of setting up a turbo session particularly difficult. And it's turbo I'm stuck with until I pick up my rebuilt OpenPro wheels in the next couple of days (unless I want to look like a complete chump cycling round in winter on deep-section Mavic Cosmics). The OpenPro rims had finally got to that stage where they were getting a little worn. I've seen what happens if you let the rims get too worn - a huge explosive 'crack' and a large part of the rim shearing off. Luckily for me I've only seen this happen to other cyclists, and luckily for them it has always been when at a standstill rather than during a 45mph descent.

I managed to get out to Hillingdon on Boxing Day for the 3rds race. The course was pretty wet and a bit muddy (not a great combination) and the racing was quite restrained. A small group got away right at the start and the bunch showed no intention of giving chase, expecting the riders to come back pretty easily. Kudos to the two who stayed away the whole race and to a strong Kingston rider who tried to bridge about halfway through the race. I don't think he quite made it but he did stay away from the bunch to take 3rd place, showing some good determination. I like that kind of riding, it shows the benefits of trying something a bit different. I did my usual thing of sitting in the middle/rear of the bunch for the majority of the race, only trying something with about 6 laps to go (a half-hearted attempt to break with one other Willesden rider). We merely towed the bunch faster until the final lap, but at least it qualified as some sort of workout. I sat up coming up to the line as I was pretty much spent, but not as quickly as one rider, who simply stopped pedalling and sat up in the middle of the final straight, thus going from 30mph to about 10mph in about a second. When will people learn that it is really dangerous to do that? A few extra seconds of half-hearted effort to slow down gradually wouldn't have killed him! I spent most of the race thinking about my position on the bike, which feels a little too 'bunched' - I'll have to experiment with saddle positions over the next few days, perhaps trying to raise and/or move the position back a few mm at a time.

Considering the fact that it was the day after Christmas I'm not surprised the race pace was a little off. I suspect most were feeling like me - too little sleep, too much food and drink. I've certainly done my fair share of TV lounging - biggest hit in our family was The Gruffalo, biggest disappointment was the Royal Family. I used to really enjoy the enforced claustrophobia of watching the family in a single front room (and occasionally the kitchen or the bathroom). The closeness of the family and the lack of distraction (other than the TV, of course) meant the clever script was left to shine. How different it all seemed when they were taken out of their 'home' environment for this episode. The scriptwriting was dreadful too - loads of padding, lots of 'thanks Dave, thanks Jim' cobblers. Dreadful.

We went to see Avatar too over the Christmas hols (in 3D at the HMV Curzon in Wimbledon). The tickets are a little more expensive and the screen smaller than in a multiplex, but there's a bar, you're allowed to take drinks (real drinks) into the cinema and there's a distinct lack of popcorn-chomping, mobile phone checking, loudly commenting viewers. The film was very good - Cameron has created a magical dreamworld in Pandora and it's the first film I've seen where the benefits of the 3D outweigh the drawbacks of wearing uncomfortable glasses. The effects and animation are stunning, the story a little predictable (but that's not the point of the film really). The planet is being mined for Unobtanium - I though that was an Oakley trademark for the grippy material on the nosepieces of their sunglasses! They missed a trick - they could have provided some properly comfortable eyewear for the film!

Got me thinking though ... I wish I had a suitable avatar for racing...

Nearly Christmas

Christmas cheer is nearly here! Winter has arrived as well, perfectly timed to coincide with my slack cycling period – motivation seems to go out of the window in December. My commute becomes a bit of a trial and I tend to be just about warmed up by the time I arrive at work, which I’m sure does my fitness no good whatsoever. In fact there have only been a few instances when I have pushed myself – mainly on the turbo in the garden doing 2x20 minutes or long steady intervals, and once at the Hillingdon Imperial Winter Series (Race 2). I may go back for more as it’s useful training, but it depends on the weather over the next few weeks.

The race was a typical 3rd Cat affair – not especially fast, the usual Hillingdon wind that made it tough on the front, the usual moaners mid-pack who complained about the slowdown into the wind but made no effort to pull through and do any work, and unfortunately the usual crash. I was glad not to be involved and just managed to avoid the fallout of bikes cartwheeling over the circuit on the final straight, coming in over the line around mid-bunch. Still, first race since breaking my wrist and finger at the beginning of the summer and I felt pretty good at the end. It was the first time I’ve really ridden with any kind of group since June (all my riding has been solo training or with one or two other riders) so, although it took a few laps to get used to the closeness of the bunch, the drafting benefits made it feel pretty easy compared to my usual solo slog out to Chertsey and back (recently there has been a headwind for at least ¾ of the journey).

I’m looking forward to turkey, whisky and chocolates over the next few weeks. I’ll see if the extra mass makes any difference in the New Year!