Feeding the Itch
Having got into/started a debate about "proper" touring on Cyclechat the "itch" returned - body and soul over the winter have been pretty awful since I returned from the kill or cure last year - so over half an hour and a cup of coffee I came up with this
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Soul now has a focus - body however is still a
problem - the trouble is the "kill or cure" tour achieved neither
aspects - definitely was fitter following the tour - but between
being out of sorts due to a bug towards the end of the tour and a bit of a
malaise over the winter my fitness is still rubbish - gym sessions since the
middle of December are maybe starting to sort it out - but a long way to go
The long, flat, kill or cure tour last year was successful in some ways - more or less achieved the object - cycled Ostende – Dunkirk – Rotterdam – Dordrecht – Nijmegen - Koln – Koblenz – Mannheim – Strasbourg – Basle – Mulhouse – Besançon - Chalon-sur-Saône – Lyon – Avignon - Montpellier – Toulouse – Bordeaux – Royan – La Rochelle – Nantes – Rennes – Granville but never totally confident physically as was in the past - If Im going to attempt the Danube+ then im going to need to much fitter than I am now - winging it like last year will not cut it!
The long, flat, kill or cure tour last year was successful in some ways - more or less achieved the object - cycled Ostende – Dunkirk – Rotterdam – Dordrecht – Nijmegen - Koln – Koblenz – Mannheim – Strasbourg – Basle – Mulhouse – Besançon - Chalon-sur-Saône – Lyon – Avignon - Montpellier – Toulouse – Bordeaux – Royan – La Rochelle – Nantes – Rennes – Granville but never totally confident physically as was in the past - If Im going to attempt the Danube+ then im going to need to much fitter than I am now - winging it like last year will not cut it!
Fitness January 2017
My awful fitness has been a constant and
almost obsession of mine for the past couple of years – up to 2009 I would of
said that I was reasonably fit – for a geezer of my age and orthopedic
background – at least one cycle tour of 1000km plus per year – gym, cycling or
swimming most days – an often quite active daytime job – able to complete a
near 10000km cycle tour in the summer of 2009 – however in early 2010 I went
down with a leg infection – serious gastroenteritis followed by my right
ankle/lower leg swelling up like a balloon - “cellulitis” the doc said – “a
course of antibiotics” the doc said – three weeks later “sorted” psmiffy said –
6 weeks later another bout – “not supposed to happen” says the doc – “we will
try a longer course of antibiotics” says the doc – “three months” says the doc
- six months later the bug reappears and
reoccurs three to four times a year until the last time in early 2016 – for the
most part the fitness held up quite well – lots of walking doing work on
landfill sites – however, 2013 to 2014 was spent predominantly working at a
desk – fitness is visibly deteriorating – not so much the infection itself
which is easily dealt with by the antibiotics but the cumulative effects of the
associated gastroenteritis playing havoc with my insides - another bout in mid
August of that year and I’m pretty much on my knees.
2015 was just a bad – just not able to get
going – Winter 2016 a couple of bouts of the bug but they are getting milder –
following the Easter 2016 bug attack I’m begin to feel a bit better – not
brilliant but better – mentally I’m getting more energy – and in July 2016 the
idea of the kill or cure tour pops into the head – totally energized now – get
the kit together and go for it.
The tour is good – 4125km over 86 days -
but always struggling – taking more rest days than I used to – and daily
distance well down – plus anything that looks remotely like a hill I’m in
trouble.
So to the present it is nine months since
the last bout of the bug – fitness is still mediocre – but working on it.
If I go for Danube 2017 I will need to be
fitter – review of how much I carry on the bike is not going well – still
around 40kg including food and water – bike plus luggage is around 57kg -
Need more power – online calculator indicates 5% hill need about sustained 100W – for 10% hill – just over 200W to be comfortable – work in the gym seems to indicate that I’m around only 70W – 200W is a big ask – based on back calculation of some of the big climbs ive done in the past 150W was sufficient that I could do bursts of 100m climbing – Climb a bit then a short rest (snack, drink photograhs or pee breaks) then repeat – approximately 300m to 400m climbing per hour. Fast enough to get me over a monster a day. So somewhere or other I need to find another sustainable 70W to 80W – a bit more than that would be good.
Need more power – online calculator indicates 5% hill need about sustained 100W – for 10% hill – just over 200W to be comfortable – work in the gym seems to indicate that I’m around only 70W – 200W is a big ask – based on back calculation of some of the big climbs ive done in the past 150W was sufficient that I could do bursts of 100m climbing – Climb a bit then a short rest (snack, drink photograhs or pee breaks) then repeat – approximately 300m to 400m climbing per hour. Fast enough to get me over a monster a day. So somewhere or other I need to find another sustainable 70W to 80W – a bit more than that would be good.
Since mid-December the gym routine has felt relentless – predominantly resistance training up to Christmas but now a
rolling routine of resistance, cardio
and swimming - I'm not convinced that I'm getting fitter – certainly it's tiring
me out - but the workload I've been able to do in each session has trebled since mid December – am I
fitter? – or am I still just taking up the slack - also will need to transfer fitness to bicycle - time will tell – June would be the
proposed kick off – 4 months – 122 days to get it together
