As I (very) recently decided to dedicate a month to cycling with a purpose, I’ve had to do some fast learning when it comes to the techier side of working out. In the past, the way I would try to get faster or stronger was very simple – I’d just ride my bike more and ride it harder and faster.

Now I have James helping me out, I’m looking to finely tune my rides to see whether this approach is better, well, I know it’s better, but I’m planning to find out by how much, and whether this approach could be something I’d stick with.

In the past I’ve been very anti-training as I prefer cycling to be fun, and completing grueling sessions sometimes isn’t. But what if I just haven’t stuck with it for long enough to see results, or to really ‘get into it?’ What if that’s why I’ve never liked it?

So for this month, I’ll be doing exactly as instructed, or at least trying as hard as I can to do so. And in order to really understand how hard I’m trying and the efficacy of the workouts, James has figured out my heart rate zones so he can tell me at what level of effort I should complete each part of the session.

So what exactly are heart rate zones?

There are six different heart rate zones that sportspeople generally work with, from Zone 1 which is very mellow indeed, to Zone 6 which I’ve never even managed to get to, because Zone 5 requires your heart to work like the clappers and normally means you’re in a world of pain! Working out in each of the zones has a specific purpose and if you know what you’re doing, heart rate zone training can be a very effective way of increasing fitness and achieving your targets, whether it’s to race or complete a long sportive.

Which zone does what?

Zone1 – Active recovery. Training in this zone can help flush out waste products in the muscles. Also for used for some longish rides.

Zone 2 – Endurance. This is your base training zone. Riding in this zone can improve your efficiency.

Zone 3 – Tempo. Training in Zone 3 helps develop aerobic power and endurance.

Zone 4 – Threshold. Zone 4 training can improve your race pace.

Zone 5 – VO2 Max – Zone 5 training improves resistance to short term fatigue and lactate tolerance. Lactate is a waste product that builds up in your muscles when you exercise and makes your legs hurt, so resistance to this is a good thing.

Zone 6 – VO2 max and lactate threshold. Training in this zone ‘aids tolerance to the repeated high end efforts you will find in a crit. ’

PS I am not a personal trainer or qualified in any way, so if I’ve made a mistake here, feel free to (politely!) tell me.

Good morning! If you’ve not swung by this blog before, firstly ‘hello!’ Secondly, you might like to take a look at my previous posts about my month long #cyclefitchallange with James from High Rise Coaching so that the following can be read in context. In my previous posts you can find out more about my motivation for doing this, how we’ve prepared and read a short explanation of heart rate zone training for cycling.

Follow me for the next month as I try to stick with a training plan, something I’ve never had the willpower, discipline or simply desire to do before!

Day#1

Day#1 of my month long bid to get fit and fast on the bike began a little strangely – with an easy hour-long recovery ride. As I’d done an FTP test the day before to figure out my heart rate zones, I was instructed to go for a really gentle ride as ‘active recovery has been shown to be more effective than just simple rest in some cases.’ So far, so easy.

Day#2

Day#2 was the first prescribed session for me to undertake, so I was really excited about getting cracking. James had promised he wouldn’t set me anything to do on the turbo trainer as he knows how much I hate it, and besides, it’s summer and I live near a brilliant closed road cycling circuit – Torbay Velopark.

In preparation for my workout, I’d programmed my training zones into my Garmin so that the display showed me how long I’d been riding, my heart rate and my exact heart rate zone – not just Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3, but broken into increments of a zone, for instance Zone 2.3, Zone 2.3, Zone 2.4. I’d also written out what I was to do and taped it to my stem, so the timings of my efforts were clear to read.

I headed to the Velopark, warming up on the way to the circuit as I passed the brightly coloured beach huts and seagulls dive-bombing unsuspecting holidaymakers and trying to steal their chips. I couldn’t wait to begin; it was such a lovely day and I was feeling fantastic about what I was trying to achieve, and excited about the process.

Then I began my workout! The session focused on fairly long efforts in Zone 4 with short periods of recovery in between, with the periods spent at Zone 4 gradually decreasing. It was far, so very far from easy. I wrote this in my diary afterwards,

“I found it really hard to get over zone 4.3. The max I got to was zone 4.5 because my legs hurt SO much I couldn’t push harder. It was my legs that were stopping me, rather than my breathing. It was super hard to complete the 12, 10 and 8 minute efforts, but I did stay in the right zone throughout, even though it was at the lower end of zone 4. Felt really hard, but I did it!

Day#3

Day#3 was a rest day, and I kind of found this harder than the training day. During our initial phone call ahead of starting the challenge, James had impressed upon me the importance of rest and recovery, telling me that it’s one of the most crucial things to schedule in and often the first thing people neglect. But even knowing that, it just felt wrong not to ride, and I really wanted to because I love cycling! But I have decided that for just one month I’m actually going to do what I’m told, so I didn’t get on the bike.

Day#4

Day#4 I was set a bodyweight training circuit to be done off the bike, the aim being to build strength and power, core stability and that kind of thing. Again, I found it nearly impossible not to go and smash out a ride, and quite apart from the fact I love riding, I started worrying that I was getting less fit through all the time off the bike (two days).

I scan read the bodyweight circuit without paying much attention and it seemed easy enough, so we went out for a cream tea with huge scones then I nipped back to do it before we went for beers on the beach.

How wrong I’d been to think it was easy – turns out that I’ve somehow adapted to cycling at the expense of more general strength and all round fitness, and I was literally howling whilst wobbling around trying to hold plank after plank. It was pretty hilarious really – I had to complete the circuit three times and even the first one required a lot of teeth gritting! But like the other instructions I’d obeyed. I didn’t deviate from what was prescribed and I damn well did it. Anything that feels that horrid has got to be good for you, right?

UK sports and fitness outfitters Sweaty Betty produce really rather lovely workout clothing (despite the somewhat unfortunate name) and seeing as I’m far more interested in dressing up for activities than I am for going out, I’ve long been up for trying some to see how the quality compares to the aesthetic.

The team recently sent over the Zoom Tri Top and Zoom Tri Shorts, designed for Triathlon (funnily enough!) for me to test out on the bike and in the sea. I waited for a some lovely hot days before jumping on my bicycle and going for a spin in the name of research. It’s a hard life sometimes….

First impressions were excellent – Sweaty Betty have a fashion forward aesthetic and pay attention to all the little details, so their clothes can feel quite special. The Zoom Tri Top and shorts are quite girly and pretty, and I’ll hold my hands up and say that I like things that make me feel nice.

The cut of the top is great across the chest and shoulders and overall the fit is good apart from a hint of bagginess at the bottom one the front – it’s a tiny bit large and sticks out very slightly rather than hugging the body. Nonetheless, it’s very flattering piece with the patterned side panels lending a curvy silhouette. On it’s own, I’m none too crazy about said pattern but I’ll concede that it works well as a contrast to the black and turquoise panels and coral pink zip pull.

I chose a Small, and unlike so many other brands, it actually is small, which I like. If you’ve got any body hangups or prefer a bit of leeway, you might prefer to size up… but then again, maybe don’t because we all know baggy lycra looks rubbish!

The concealed zip and laser cut edges look smart, mesh pockets at the rear hold your bits and bobs and silicon grippers on the hem aim to hold the top in place though have trouble doing so as the top is a little big around the bottom. The internal bra is a great feature and the Polyamide fabric lends support and dries quickly.

The Zoom Tri Shorts complete the look. The back of the shorts is a quite strong, supportive fabric that offers some compression whilst the sides and front are a more regular quick drying stretchy lycra/polyamide combo. As these are triathlon shorts rather than general cycling shorts, the seat pad is extremely slim to allow it to dry quickly, making these shorts ideal for the aforementioned triathlon and also for spinning class or shorter more leisurely rides.

I found the fit good. The Silicon grippers around the hems did indeed hold the legs in place and I thought the small mesh pockets at the back of the shorts were a nice touch, though what on earth are you taking on your ride if you need pockets in the shorts AND the top? My only gripe – the overlocked stitching on the shorts doesn’t seem the best idea – it’s already gone a little fuzzy in one spot on the inside leg from rubbing on the saddle.

Overall, the Zoom Tri top and shorts would make a great choice for triathlon or spinning, or on it’s own, the top is nice paired with bikini bottoms for a swim or some leggings to go for a run. £65 per item seems reasonable to me, so the kit gets my thumbs up.

As I only began my challenge last week I was looking forward to receiving my weekly training plan from James on Sunday evening to see what cycling I’d be doing over the next seven days.

I was really bummed out to see a rest day scheduled in for Monday as I hadn’t ridden all weekend and it was causing me so much consternation. Quite apart from my anguish at the thought of losing my base fitness, I was really missing being out on the bike and the pleasure it gives me and with my regular dose of endorphins missing I was going to get grouchy.

James suggested that if I was feeling fresh, I could swop things around a bit and do an intense Zone 5 workout on Monday instead. I was really pleased about that and ever so eagerly headed to the Velopark to give it a bash.

Day #5

On paper, it didn’t look that bad – the structure was similar to the Zone 4 workout I did the week before but the intervals were shorter and the intensity higher. At the back of my mind, I did have slight doubts as to whether I could actually get into Zone 5 as it means a heart rate of 178bpm and above (for me) and I’d only ever registered a heart rate so high twice previously. But maybe that’s because I’d never really done any intense training or racing, I thought to myself…

After my warm up I press record on the Garmin and sprinted off for my first 4 minute Zone 5 segment. After one minute sprinting absolutely flat out my legs and lungs began really complaining and I started slowing considerably as I tried to ride through the pain. I pushed as hard as I could throughout the segment but as hard as I could turned out to be really pathetic and not only was I going far too slowly with my painful, heavy legs and stunted breathing, I wasn’t even in Zone 5 anyway. I was annoyed with myself.

After the short ‘recovery’ period of two minutes, I blasted off again into a sprint and this time it was even worse. I was flagging after about 30 seconds and my heart rate didn’t even get as high as the time before. I carried on pushing for the allotted time but it was really, really difficult to do so and I felt like a real weakling, as well as confused and disheartened. I’d really wanted to have a good ride and it felt like I’d wasted my training session which really grated as I hadn’t done anything all weekend.

My diary says,

“Bloody torture and near on impossible! I tried as damn hard as I could, but I couldn’t get into Zone 5, not even once. I was trying so hard, my lungs were on fire, my legs agony, but I never got to zone 5. It was extremely, extremely hard though. Seems weird.”

Day #6

The next morning, James and I had a chat about it and he told me there were a few reasons which might explain why I hadn’t reached Zone 5, one of which was fatigue. I’m not really sure what the reason is, but thinking about it now, well I know for a fact I can’t really sprint for more than a minute because 30 seconds on Rollapaluza is really hard, plus I’ve done a few sprints at the track and always start flagging around then. But whatever the reason, James told me to just go for a nice ride that  day and not worry about heart rates at all. I was ever so happy to oblige and appreciated every glorious minute of my gentle potter around the countryside.

 Day #8

After (yet) another rest day, last night I went to a women’s Cat 4,3 and 2 race at the Velopark as I figured the best training for racing is racing. I’ve only ever done one of these ‘proper’ closed circuit road races before and that was a couple of years ago on a rather heavy steel bike with disc brakes so I had no idea how I’d do. Alongside practicing working with other riders to share the time you ride at the front and some group riding and cornering practice, I wanted to use the race as a bit of a workout.

I didn’t actually realise you needed a race license so I nearly couldn’t ride because I didn’t have a tenner to buy a temporary day license that would cover me. Thank goodness, someone came to the rescue and lent me £10 as my lower lip was beginning to quiver at the thought of not being able to ride!! In the end, the race was pretty mellow so I wound up taking second place, as well as having a lot of fun and getting some good practice in.

And today? Well today is another attempt at some Zone 5 intervals. Wish me luck!

I’m now in my second full week of Cycle Fit Challenge aka my last ditch effort to get a bit faster and stronger ahead of the Red Hook Crit in London. Somewhat surprisingly, I’ve actually been enjoying having some structure to my riding as it means I can prioritise cycling and plan my days accordingly, and rather than finding being told what to do annoying, I’m relishing the purpose this training has given me.

I also like the break from thinking – I spend quite a lot of time thinking, planning and wondering and it’s quite nice not having to do that when it comes to cycling for the time being –  I just complete what’s prescribed. And the short, sharp intense sessions give me a real break from day-to-day worries because I’m so utterly focused on what I’m doing for the duration, to the exclusion of everything else. Read more about why this state of ‘flow’ is helpful here.

After my race last week, on Friday it was time to try another Zone 5 interval session at the Velopark. I was really motivated to push hard and get my heart rate into Zone 5, which for me is above 178bpm, as I’d failed in my previous attempt earlier that week. Sadly, it was not to be and Zone 5 remains elusive. My diary reads:

“Terrible again. I sincerely hope that ‘trying’ is of some use and that I’m getting something out of this because I can’t complete it properly. Basically, I can’t sprint flat out for longer than 45 seconds so I blast off as hard and fast as I can in an effort to get my heart rate into Zone5 but then I’m totally done and for the rest of the segment it’s extremely hard to even keep going so I end up forcing out short bursts of sprinting and struggling. It’s so, so hard. I must be a wuss because I can’t handle the pain!”

Bummed out and feeling like a failure, I emailed James from High Rise Coaching with some feedback, quickly bashed out my bodyweight circuit training then headed off to a wedding to drink loads of champagne, Pimms and red wine and forget about cycling for a while. The ensuing hangover certainly took my mind off things!

On Monday I headed back to the velopark to try out a new Zone 5 interval session that James had suggested as I was struggling so much with the original one. This new interval session was made up of shorter max effort/Zone 5 intervals with shorter periods of recovery in-between, so I thought I might be able to successfully complete every effort as well as get into that bloody Zone 5. The session began with a minute flat out sprint, followed by a 2 minute recovery then I had to complete ever decreasing intervals of sprinting and recovering until I was sprinting for 20 seconds, recovering for 30 seconds, sprinting for 20 seconds, recovering for 30 seconds etc etc.

I began by sprinting off as hard as I could but as I seem to totally suck at this kind of thing after 30 seconds the pain had already set in and my legs and lungs were complaining. I then caught a pedal as I came out of a corner which kind of threw me and made things even more difficult. Determined to try as hard as I could, I carried on to complete the interval session as best I could but my best turns out to be crap, and when I checked my heart rate monitor at the end, despite the fact I felt like I was going to puke, yet again I’d failed to hit Zone 5. I do dislike the way people say ‘can’t is not a word.’ Screw you, because I bloody well can’t!!!

As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, when it comes to researching bicycle related products I’m nothing short of thorough and being one of those irritating people who can’t make up their mind without considering absolutely every possibility as though it’s the last decision I’ll make in life, choosing a car bike rack took an extremely long time.

After scrapping the third second hand car I’d bought in as many years, Dave and I backtracked on what we’d previously said about buying a new one and went for the teeniest, cheapest little car we could find, a Vauxhall Corsa, and so rather than chucking all our bikes in the back of an estate like we’d previously done, we were left wondering how to best transport our bicycles.

As we live down Devon’s extremely narrow lanes, we ruled out a regular rear mounted bike rack as our beloved cycles would stick out wider than the back of the car. The other option was a roof mounted bike rack but even though I’m reasonably strong, I figured lifting a bike up and onto a car was not exactly going to be easy. Plus I’d need a bloody ladder!

The Saris Gran Fondo from Paligap seemed to be the perfect solution as it hangs the bikes vertically on the back of the car, it works for multiple wheels sizes and eliminates the need to clamp any part of the frame. It also means your number plate remains visible so you don’t need to buy a new one to hang. According to the manufacturers it fits multiple car sizes, and certainly we had no problems on our little vehicle. There is a weight limit of 35lbs per bike, so if you ride DH make sure you check your bike is within the limit before transporting it.

Initial assembly had me briefly confused, though actually ended up not taking too long. Attaching the rack to the car was very straightforward though fairly nerve-racking as we had to hook various pieces of metal onto our brand new car, and even though the hooks were rubberized they were very hard so I slipped some inner tube over them for additional protection. Four large rubber feet spread the load across the bodywork and rear windscreen, then you’ve got long ratchet straps to ensure nothing wiggles about.

The bikes are attached by lifting the front wheel into the top ‘cup’ whilst resting the rear wheel on the lower cup. The size of the top cup is easily changed to accommodate 26inch, 700c wheels and 29ers and you can move the rear wheel cup up and down to fit longer or shorter bikes. Other wheel sizes are not officially catered for, but we put two BMXs on there and didn’t encounter any problems.

A plastic ratchet strap secures the wheels in place. Obviously, you wouldn’t want to leave your bikes on the car whilst you go anywhere as a thief could just undo the straps or cut the webbing and remove the whole rack, but I never used to leave my bikes inside my old car so it doesn’t make a difference to me.

I have to admit, Dave and I were pretty scared that the whole thing was going to end in disaster with bikes falling off and smashing the rear windscreen – quite why we thought someone would manufacture, market and sell something that didn’t work I don’t know! Somewhat nervously, we drove all the way to Sheffield for our maiden voyage and I’m happy to say that the rack turned out to be secure and reliable. To be honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever be 100% comfortable seeing my bikes bounce up and down as we go over speed bumps, but that’s more to do with my own neuroses than anything to do with the rack. Certainly, it’s been great so far!

After several hundred miles we had to tighten the straps to stop the rack moving slightly, but that’s to be expected and I’d encourage anyone using a bike rack to check it regularly anyhow.

In conclusion, the Saris Gran Fondo is a great rear mounted bike rack for those wanting to transport two bikes very easily, without the fear of oncoming drivers smashing into wheels sticking out on either side of your car. It’s a hell of a lot easier to attach your bike than the other alternative; a roof mounted rack, though if you’re weak or short I guess you could struggle to heave your front wheel up onto the top cup. Lightweight, rust free aluminium means it should last a long time, and the fact you don’t have to clamp your frame is a real bonus. At £200, it’s not cheap, but it performs well and looks good. Recommended.

‘It never gets easier, you just get a faster,’ A cycling cliche, yes, but a belief I’ve been clinging to with both hands since beginning this challenge a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been finding it really hard to complete the short, intense interval sessions, though in my defence I actually have completed them without intentionally backing off or shirking any of the efforts. That’s not to say that I’ve managed to sprint non stop for the required amount of time or got my heart rate into the zone it’s meant to be in – I’ve pushed as hard as I can for the allotted amounts of time, but often ‘as hard as I can’ includes some segments where I fizzle out for a few seconds before pushing on again.

I have to believe that these efforts are doing something, just stick with it and trust I’m improving. It can be hard when there’s no tangible proof any of this is working, but all I can be sure of is that doing something is better than doing nothing!

Another thing I’m continuing to struggle with is these damned ‘rest days,’ where James insists that I recover from my training. I know full well that the rest periods are when you’re body adapts to the workouts you’ve been doing and so are actually when you build your strength and fitness, but I still really dislike not riding my bike whenever I want to. If there’s one thing this process has taught me, it’s how much I love those long aimless rides undertaken on a whim. But it’s also reinforced my love of a challenge!

Day #13

Day 13 was a recovery ride, which means a really gentle roll to get your legs spinning and flush lactic acid out of your muscles. Feeling like I’d hardly done anything after a boozy wedding weekend and a really disappointing Zone 5 interval session the day before, I decided to ignore the heart rate monitor and my instructions to take it easy, instead going out went for a reasonably fast ride. I’d decided not to go all out and push it hard up the hills and stress my legs, but to get spinning quickly on any flatter sections.

It was my fairly first fast ride outside the velopark since I’d begun this regime as the previous week I’d actually obeyed James and done the slowest recovery ride every, where even grannies passed me on the hills, and I absolutely loved it. The sun was shining, my legs felt strong and I felt energised and happy and it may have been purely psychological but goddam it, I felt speedy! It was just what I needed, not least as Tuesday was another bloody rest day! In the evening I went for a few runs at the local mountain bike trails.

Day #15

Looking for ways to mix up my sessions and keep motivated I’d suggested to James that I ride Mid Devon Cycling Club’s 10 Mile hilly Time Trial on Thursday evening, figuring that a full on all out effort would be good workout.

I’ve only ever done one Time Trial before and it was painful and not much fun, but riding out to the start through the pretty South Hams on a summer’s evening I felt really happy to meet up with my club and ride fast in the sunshine. I’d been told that the course was pretty hilly so I went for a bit of a route recce whilst doing my warmup and found that the return leg of the course was a lot faster than the way out.

I decided I’d give it everything on the way out and set off like a bat out of hell, only to realise there was no way I’d be able to keep it up. The whole thing was extremely painful, physically and mentally, and at points I was really questioning what the hell I was doing. It was not fun at all, and honestly I can’t see how Time Trials ever could be, because surely if it’s not torturous, you’re not pushing hard enough, and if you’re not pushing to your max then what’s the point in being there? I did feel a great sense of accomplishment afterwards – I came first out of the women –  but it was accompanied by a bit of confusion… I could have been riding trails instead or my mountain bike instead, which is 100% fun rather than some pleasure/pain combo. Actually, thinking about it, I’m not sure time trialling even is a pleasure/pain combo, I reckon it’s just horrid!

TT photo: Oliver Twigger

Day#16

The day after Mid Devon CC’s ten mile hilly time trial, it was back to the velopark for another interval session, this time on my new Charge track bike which I was dying to ride! I’ve not been riding fixed gear or track much recently – really my road and mountain bikes are just better suited to the terrain where I live – so I was keen to have a shred.

But stoked as I was to ride my new track bike, my legs weren’t too keen to cooperate, firstly because I’d smashed out a time trial the previous evening and secondly because I’ve turned into a wuss through riding too spinny a gear on my road bike. I always complete a twenty minute warm up before I do any training (I’ll tell you about that in another post) and I was actually finding it quite hard to push through so I was quite worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete the 45 minute interval session in its entirety. My legs felt very heavy and I felt exhausted after little sleep the night before.

Determined to at least give it a go, I sprinted off for my first 12 minute Zone 4 interval and just kept turning those pedals with an eye on the Garmin to make sure I stayed in the zone. It was really tough, but I managed to motivate myself by telling myself ‘you chose to be here,’ ‘you’ve been looking forward to this,’ and ‘how would you feel if you skipped this session?’ I also mentally ticked off periods of three minutes, thinking ‘you’ve done a quarter,’ ‘you’ve done a half,’ etc etc…

Once the first 12 minutes were up, I had a couple of minutes to recover before starting again, and this time round my motivation to continue was the fact the first 12 minutes would have been for nothing if I gave up. Many, many times I thought to myself, ‘I can’t do this,’ and had to remind myself ‘you ARE doing this!’ Once it was over I felt really proud of myself!

Day #17

A rest day in theory, but in reality, moving house and a six hour drive to Sheffield. Ugh

Day #18

On Sunday, Dave and I headed over to Bakewell to meet up with our pals from Bikmo and ride the 55 mile route of Eroica Britannia. It looked like it was going to absolutely bucket it down, but by a stroke of luck we got a near enough dry day of fun. Read my write up over on the Brooks blog.

Day #20

Today! I’m up in the Peak District for a week (or thereabouts) and James from High Rise Coaching has sent over a few workouts I can do out on the road, the aim being to build in some strength and power. Today’s session consisted of some extremely short hill sprints in a very heavy gear, so I duly completed was he prescribed and then added in a few more for good measure. As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, I can struggle to stick with what I’m meant to be doing, and nearly always want to do more and skip rest days and today was no exception. It actually just felt a bit easy and like it wasn’t really doing anything, which leads me to believe that either I’m got stronger over the last fortnight or I wasn’t doing it properly. Cue: anxiety over the fact I’ve not trained hard enough today and it’s been wasted.

Hello pals, and sorry for the big delay in posting anything about my last minute training for Red Hook Crit in London, aka #GetCycleFit or #CycleFitChallenge – I seem to keep flitting between the two hashtags and forgetting which one I’m using.

But anyway, to update you:

As I mentioned in my last post, Dave and I drove up to the Peak District for Eroica Britannia, which was a marvelous day and about as far away from ‘training’ as cycling can be, as it was entirely pleasurable. I do find it funny when people say that training should be ‘fun,’ because although I’ve been thriving on my new regime and relishing this new focus, I don’t see how pushing yourself until you feel sick can ever be ‘fun.’ And if you’re not pushing yourself so much that it hurts, well… you’re not getting the most out of your workout so what’s the bloody point in doing it?

Following Eroica I took a rest day to allow my little legs to recover their strength then it was back to some short, sharp, brutal rides to shock my body into building some strength and power. Day#20’s workout involved repeatedly sprinting uphill for ten seconds in a heavy gear from a stationary start. I found it really easy and became quite agitated that I’d wasted a day of training – when you’ve only a month, every session counts.

I contacted my coach to discuss what had happened and he told me to do it again the next day but with 40 second uphill sprints, as well as completing the other workout he’d already put on my calendar. I was actually really pleased to be handed a load of extra work. My parents (with whom I’m staying for a few weeks) found that very odd – they can’t understand why I want these workouts to be as hard as possible, sometimes advising me as I walk out the door ‘not to overdo it.’ I tell them that I have every intention of overdoing it!

Day#21

Aside from repeating the hill sprints from the day before, the plan for Day#21 was a bunch of 30 second all-out sprints, with either 2 or 3 minutes recovery in between. I plumped for 2.5 minutes of recovery because it made it easier to calculate when to sprint – every three minutes.

I wrote in my diary:

“The first few 30 second sprints were on the easy side but as I progressed through the session it became harder and I’d fatigue earlier and earlier. But I enjoyed this workout and it felt achievable and effective.”

I also wrote:

“I didn’t manage to do the repeat of yesterdays hill sprint session in the evening because Mum and Dad whisked me off for fish and chips… HATE skipping sessions. Love fish and chips though!”

Day #23

For training, I repeated Day#21’s workout, then in the evening I met up with a couple of local riders, James Todd and Paul, for a mountain bike ride on the edge of Sheffield and in the Peaks. James had ever so kindly arranged for me to borrow a mountain bike from On One, as after much deliberation I hadn’t brought mine with me from Devon – I only had space for two bikes when I drove up and the track bike and road bike made the cut, and besides, I wasn’t initially planning on being here long. Unfortunately, circumstances have meant I’ve extended my stay so I might have to pull out of the British Downhill Champs in a few weeks as I’ve not had a chance to ride downhill at all so I’m not prepared in the way I’d like to be.

But anyway, it was fantastic to ride cross-country with James and Paul and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, not least because a torrential downpour at the start of the evening seemed to have put everyone else off so we pretty much had the hills to ourselves. It was a belter of an evening.

Day #24

A 45 minute ride in HR zone 4, with some evil sprints thrown, Saturday’s workout was really tough for me and my legs took a bit of warming up after all the riding the day before. Being in the Peaks, rather than Devon, I haven’t had access to the Velopark so I’ve been training on my road bike on public roads. Obviously I have to prioritise safety, so when my workout demands a high heart rate zone I head for a hilly route things to make things harder and keep my heart beating fast. So rather than being pleased when I see the road in front of me roll off down a hill, I get ever so disappointed as I know I’ll drop down a couple of heart rate zones. Man, I’ve changed!

Who knows how much faster all this training has made me, but it’s made me feel strong, and it’s made me feel great. 

When I began #CycleFitChallenge a month ago, I had little idea what to expect from a coach on the end of the phone, and even littler idea whether I’d want to stick to the training I’d been prescribed in the run up to racing Red Hook Crit in London.

I’d only very recently written in my blog for Brooks England that I don’t like the concept of training – having always been involved in unstructured ‘freesports’ such as snowboarding, skateboarding and more recently BMX, to me, training came loaded with negative connotations and I found being told how and when to ride off-putting.

To combat my ingrained resistance, right at the start of this exercise I was careful not to think of what I was doing as training, but rather to look at is as a series of exercises or workouts to incorporate into cycling I’d be doing anyway, and that approach has worked very well for me.

But with Red Hook Crit nearly upon us, I’m approaching the end of the challenge and with several weeks of structured cycling under my belt, I’m finally acceptant of training – I’ve even come to like it – and really look forward to receiving my training plan from my coach every Sunday evening. Last week I was happy to receive my penultimate schedule and find it appended like this:

“There are two weeks until the race. As I said on the phone we can make this week pretty tough and stretch you a little. This is a tough week – if you start to struggle we can cut a session. Now get out, have fun and SHRED!!!!!!!!!!!”

Day #27

Despite having recently taken delivery of my new Charge Bikes track bike and the fact I’ve been training for Red Hook Crit, I’ve not actually had much chance to the bike, so last Tuesday I loaded her onto the car for a trip to Manchester velodrome and the National Cycling Centre.

After a lot of faffing buying vinegar (to clean my tyres and prepare them for the track) and sprockets (to change my gearing and make it heavier), I finally made it to the velodrome only to be told I might not be able go on. I’m an accredited track cyclist with a British Cycling license showing as much and I’d been led to believe that an agreement between the five cities with velodromes (Manchester, London, Newport, Derby and Edinburgh) meant I’d be able to ride without any problems.

That turns out not to be true, but luckily for me, the kindly receptionist managed to sort out my problem, effectively putting me on probation until the coach was happy with my riding. So a word of caution – track accreditation remains site specific at present and you’d best phone up before you set off to avoid problems. I ended up missing half the session.

The session itself was a Structured Quality Training session for ‘B’ riders and vets, and as such was a pretty chilled and friendly way to spend the morning. The coach was super duper nice and all the other riders were so friendly and helpful – I only wish I lived closer to Manchester velodrome as I’d sign up every week!

The day continued to be really rather lovely as my time on the track was followed by a tour of the National Cycling Centre and a very exciting meeting with British Cycling, with whom I may be partnering in the future on some secret projects. It was such a fun morning – I was like a kid in a sweet shop and so overexcited to be in what to me, is a very important place for cycling – a kind of temple to all I love.

Back in the Peaks later that evening, I completed my second training session of the day which was in many ways a rehearsal for the crit. With it being a very intense workout on public roads, of course I couldn’t ride my track bike as it wouldn’t be safe, so it was back out on the Goomah 731 for a 45 minute heart rate zone 4 ride with lots of sprints thrown in too.

It was a beautiful summer evening and I pedalled up to Bakewell huffing and puffing and looking like a total lunatic. I do wish sometimes I could share images of just how wild-eyed, vermillion and drenched with sweat I get on these rides rather than just grabbing photos when I’m far more composed – it would show a fascinating side of cycling which is not about smiles and nice outfits.

Day #28

This was a hill sprint session to build strength.

“Warmed up for 20 mins then completed six 30 second hill sprints. Was extremely tough for the last ten seconds of each effort – those last ten seconds were more of a brutal grunt and struggle to keep turning the pedals than a sprint!”

Day #29

An interval sprint session for half an hour, where I sprinted for 30 seconds every 2 and a half minutes. I really like this particular workout and it’s definitely one I’ll continue as it’s ideal if you want to get the most out of a short session.

Day #30

On Friday I finally got a second ride on my track bike at the Velopark, in what was my last practice for the Red Hook Crit. I travelled down to Devon to visit Dave and go to Kye Forte’s Green Acres jam, so the opportunity for a pretend crit was far too good to miss. As I’ve been riding a bloody road bike all the time, the gearing on my track bike felt pretty heavy, plus my legs were quite fatigued. It was a pretty painful and unenjoyable session to be honest, but it was followed by a lovely weekend of beers, BBQs, puppies and BMX!

I’m curious by nature and that makes for an interesting life. Sometimes things go wrong, in fact they often do, but it never puts me off trying. The past year has been pretty tough, filled with upheaval and plenty of disasters but undeterred, this summer I took on a brand new challenge – racing the Red Hook Crit.

The Red Hook Crit races are widely regarded as the most challenging (and yes, potentially dangerous) track bike criteriums in the world. The now wildly successful series of international fixed gear circuit races grew from grassroots events held by bike messengers in Brooklyn’s Red Hook Crit area and these days are a seriously big deal, with hundreds of competitors, big name sponsors, thousands of spectators and professional riders taking part.

But even though the racing is now very serious, the atmosphere really isn’t. Yes, these events are about riding hard, but they’re also a celebration and meeting people, cheering loudly and having a seriously good time are of equal importance.

Having witnessed firsthand just how much fun the Red Hook Crit looked last year in Milan, when I heard it was coming to London I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get involved as I wouldn’t need to fly anywhere to find out how I’d fare.

As I’ve detailed in previous posts, I only decided to race a month before the event, and not coming from a racing background or having EVER done any training before, I threw myself into getting as fit as I could. More on training later, but for now, I’m going to skip straight to the action.

Arriving at the event, in the grounds of London’s 02 arena I felt no nerves at all. I was so goddam tired that I couldn’t think straight, because the previous night our cats had been such badly behaved rat bags that I couldn’t sleep at all. After getting extremely annoyed with them and their shenanigans, eventually I’d stomped off in a huff and tried to sleep in a cupboard away from their noisiness.

So much for race prep; I felt like a zombie.

After signing on and grabbing my race chip and rider number I donned my new Assos skinsuit and hopped on the rollers to warm up, or at least I tried too – having not ridden rollers for a really long time, I had a lot of trouble getting going and started getting flustered as everyone kept trying to help me. You know when you just want everyone to leave you alone to get on with it? Well, yeah, that…

After a few minutes I was rolling nicely, feeling good and looking forward to riding the course.

Incredibly, about 70 women had signed up for the race; amazing considering the organisers only added a women’s category last year. Upon lining up at the start line for the qualifications it became apparent that many of them hadn’t turned up – last minute nerves perhaps – so we were down to 39 riders, which is still a good field.

To kick things off we rode a ceremonial lap behind the motorbike, and as we rolled slowly round the circuit as one big gang I felt quite emotional.

I’ve been following the Red Hook Crit for years and now I was a part of it!

I felt at once calm and excited, if that’s possible. Calm, because I knew I’d worked as hard as I could for the month I had to prepare and there was nothing left to do but enjoy myself, and exited because it was the Red Hook Crit, goddamit!!

With all the women going into the finals, the qualifications were there as a way of determining your start position on the grid and also a chance for us to get to know the circuit safely. I decided to ride a few slow laps to begin with as the course was extremely tight in parts and very technical, with varied surfaces, cambers and corners to keep riders on their toes.

Someone crashed straight away, which made me glad I’d played it safe.

But there came a time to stop riding so slowly – the qualifications last 20 minutes and during that time you have to set the fastest lap you can – so I decided to put the hammer down and go for my ‘hot lap’ before any hold ups such as people crashing, barriers blowing down, people giving birth (that happened in Dave’s qualis!).

My tactic of holding back backfired as I ended up catching people in front of me and getting stuck as I was too polite to yell at them – I realised afterwards that shouting ‘rider’ and ‘outside’ are de rigeur when coming through, and that being timid gets you nowhere fast! Nonetheless I qualified 15^th and wasn’t displeased with as it meant I could start on the second row from the front in the main race.

And with that done, I lay on a blanket in the shade for the rest of the afternoon. Bloody cats!

Several hours later and fueled with plenty of pasta, it was time to begin warming up for the main event. My coach for the last month, James had turned up to cheer me on, so he hovered next to me whilst I jumped on the rollers and made me feel very pro, handing me my waterbottle and timing my workout whilst I warmed up and did an interview for The Cycle Show at the same time.

Lining up at the start, I felt good – I knew I could only do my best and whatever result that gave me would have to do. I knew my bike handling skills would be my strong point and that fitness would be the main factor in determining where I’d finish. Realistic about my competition and the experience and speed of some of the well-known riders, what I was hoping for was a group of women of a similar standard to race with in a bunch. I was also hoping to finish the whole race without being lapped or pulled off.

As we sped off through the start line, I cranked hard and muscled my way into the lead group, hoping that a big push at the beginning would help me get away with them, after which the pace might settle in. I soon realised that I’d blow up very quickly if I stuck with them, so lungs already screaming I watched the lead riders pedal away with several others in pursuit.

The bunch I wound up riding with was for the main part composed of solo riders like myself, so it was sometimes a bit of a battle to get everyone to work together and share the lead. I got stuck on the front for a bit, as did a couple of other riders, and once that’s happened to you and you’ve tried very plainly to get people to ride through and take a turn, it puts you off doing it again. Ideally, I reckon we should have switched around more often but hey, we did our best – I’m new to this game and I know some of the other riders were too so I think we did good in the grand scheme of things!

The pace was very fast from the get-go and demanded a lot in terms of skill and fitness. I found the corners and technical parts worked to my advantage and I was able to get a very slight rest in those sections, but the fast, straight sections were difficult for me and I had to fight hard to stay with the little group I was riding with. The race was such a thrill, so very, very tough that I was never sure if I’d be actually able to complete it, but I couldn’t stop smiling all the time because I absolutely loved every single minute of it.

And I did it! I did complete it! And not only that, when it came to the final lap after 30 minutes, I gave a final push, wining the sprint to the line against the riders in my group. As I went through the line I threw my fist in the air in delight – I’d raced the legendary Red Hook Crit, I was home safe and sound and I felt proud of how I’d done. When I saw Dave waiting for me I nearly burst into tears.

It took me a while to even check the results, because I didn’t actually care where I’d come, but when I saw I was 18^th out of 39 riders I felt proud. I’d entered out of curiosity at what I could achieve if I tried really hard and with no background in racing, and only a month of training, finishing in the top twenty of the toughest track bike criterium in the world felt pretty good! Red Hook Crit Barcelona, I’m coming for ya!

All images: Dave Noakes

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that one of the few things I hadn’t tried on a bike was training. Until now! Over the last month I threw myself into a training challenge #GetCycleFit to see how fit I could get in just a month. I managed to make really significant improvements to my fitness thanks to my own hard work and some great guidance from James at High Rise Coaching.

I learnt a lot along the way so I decided to share that with you, putting together my top list of tips for beginners starting out on a cycling training plan, or looking to incorporate some structured workouts into their riding.

Head over to the Velovixen blog to read my feature and find out what little adjustments made all the difference in my training.

A couple of weeks ago I took place in the Red Hook Crit in London, a closed circuit track bike race with a pretty fearsome reputation and very high standard. I was one of nearly 70 women who entered, and I’d done so because I’d seen other girls riding at the previous event in Milan and thought, ‘that looks fun – I wonder if I could do that too?

Last October’s Red Hook Crit event in Milan had a far smaller field, with riders numbering somewhere in the mid teens, but seeing those ladies doing their thing was enough to make me consider racing and ultimately take the plunge this summer.

Just a year prior to that race, I’d have been disappointed in Milan, because there wasn’t a women’s category at all. That spark of interest would not have occurred, I wouldn’t have entered RHC London and those who joined me in doing so might not have either.

It was a similar story with Steel City DH in Sheffield. Last year, I’d been approached about the event as the organisers were keen to have a strong women’s field and were actively seeking out female riders to invite and encouraging us to enter. I was unable to attend that year, but after following the event online and hearing how amazing it was, this year I signed myself up. Again, the event had grown and I was one of around 70, making up one of the biggest female fields ever seen in a UK mountain bike event. The girls were happy and the guys were amazed, wondering ‘where on earth had all these women come from?’

So far, so good, right?

Wrong.

These events are not the norm, and if I’m blessed with a daughter when I have my own family, I’ll have to explain to her that she’ll have to make do with cheering her brother on most weekends, because ‘there aren’t enough women to warrant stand alone women’s races,’ apparently.

I’m so bored of that same old line being trotted out by organisers. Of course there aren’t enough women entering races if there aren’t any races for them to enter – how can a race scene ever grow if there’s not even a seed there to begin with?

We have to begin somewhere, or this situation will never change. The organisers of Red Hook Crit and Steel City Series saw that and have been rewarded handsomely, not just with our gratitude, but with our money too.

The point is, women ride bikes and many want to compete but organisers may need to take new and different approaches to build a thriving women’s scene. Because historically there is no such scene, they need to help lay the foundations of one; they need to take the plunge and build something great from something initially small. By not bothering to try, they’re failing you and I and sending a strong signal to woman that we’re not worth the effort.

In a country in the grips of what some call an ‘obesity epidemic,’ I think that’s morally wrong.

What’s the point in campaigns like Sport England’s This Girl Can, designed to encourage female participation in sport, when there aren’t incentives or indeed demands that governing bodies give us opportunities and there’s little infrastructure to help grow women’s sport? I’m not even talking about equal opportunities; just some opportunities would be nice, because let me tell you, This Girl Can’t when it comes to track racing where I live – I have to race the men or not race at all.

Maybe you’re wondering why I think we should get special treatment and ask organisers to make an extra effort to help us? Maybe you think that women need to just step up and get involved, make some noise, demand their own events, or ‘man up’ and just enter the same events as the guys to ‘show they’re serious.’

I’d like to know why we have to campaign to have the same infrastructure as men? It’s like it’s ‘our fault’ for being female so we have to sort the problem out ourselves – shouldn’t equality be a collective effort for the good of us all?

Do you fancy telling your mum she’s just not as important as your dad? Your daughter she’s not as worthy as her brother?

As I said, some organisers have taken steps to redress the balance and it’s paying off – for them and for riders like me. And I began writing this article as a positive celebration of what’s been achieved by events such as the Red Hook Crit rather than another ‘grumble piece,’ keen not to just have a moan about the state of women’s cycling. I know there are a lot of pieces like this already out there… and I felt the need to apologise for what might be seen as another angry rant. But surely having an understandable response to this situation, that of sheer frustration, is justified?

So enough already. I’m angry and that’s that and we should be; sometimes it really sucks being a woman. Though there are many, many more important issues of gender inequality that need tackling than whether or not I get to race at the weekend, as a female cyclist living in a supposedly forward thinking nation I am just so frustrated at how totally unfair things are for my half of the population.

So what do you think? Do you think it’s up to the competitors or the organisers? Do we need legislation, voluntary pledges, a dedicated task force? Maybe you’re an organiser frustrated by low female turnout at your events – I can understand that too, but could it be symptomatic of the cause?

I’m not claiming to have any of the answers and I’m certainly not pointing fingers; I wouldn’t know where to point them anyway. I just wanted to get this out there as we need to keep talking about issues like this. Because I want to race women not men – racing other women is hard enough already!

EDIT: It’s great to read so many comments below and on Facebook – thank you for sharing your thoughts.

I’m adding this footnote due to some of the more negative responses this piece has received  – not  particularly in the comments below, but on reposts or shares dotted about the internet. Some people seem offended that I have an opinion on this matter, feeling I don’t have a right to say anything about this unless I am actively doing something to change things. If you happen to be one of those people, hear this:

Everyone has a right to an opinion, and by sharing mine I’ve helped sparked conversations and inspire debate, so I am actually doing something.

As for the other point:

I have trained as a British Cycling coach so that I can help with the development of womens cycling. I have run a series of free coaching workshops for women. Myself, my husband and my friends are in the process of organising more local women’s events. I actively promote local races and try and encourage female entrants. I write this blog that aims to do the same thing. So, erm, yeah. Where’s the emoticon for two fingers?

I know it’s deeply uncool to say this on a cycling blog but I never used to be that into the Tour de France. Back before my roadie conversion, my mum and I used to snigger a little at the skinny riders grinding their way towards Surprise View in Hathersage, and for a really long time I honest to god didn’t know why they dressed like they did.

But lycra inched it’s way into my life little by little, and with it came a new interest in the three week endurance fest that is the Tour de France, the heroic riders creeping their way into my consciousness to the stage I’m at now, where I follow several of them on Twitter and have a King of the Mountains style polka dot tablecloth.

I still find watching each stage in it’s entirety an endurance fest of its own, preferring to settle down in front on ITV’s highlights at the end of each day, but I’m a full on TDF convert – just one with a short attention span. For three weeks of the year, I actually read the Sport section of the newspaper rather than using it to line the cat litter tray. And each year a few more of my friends would travel over to watch the Tour, and I’d get a little more jealous. Until now!

This weekend I was able to experience the thrill of the Tour, not just anywhere but in Paris, thanks to Ibis who’d invited me over to celebrate their partnership with the race. It couldn’t have started off more perfectly – I was already super excited just to be in Paris and then I opened the window of my hotel room to a view of the Eiffel Tower. We had a lovely dinner just round the corner from Ibis Paris Boulogne Billancourt then I tried very hard to catch up on sleep. As per usual, I was too excited.

The day of the Tour, we headed up to meet the caravan publicitaire on the outskirts of Paris. The caravan publicitaire can seem pretty odd to the uninitiated, but it’s a real Tour de France tradition and the fans lining the streets seem to love it. To create a carnival atmosphere (and gain as much attention as possible) the sponsors create brightly coloured and crazy looking floats, which they drive through the streets whilst chucking out gifts and blaring music. The Ibis floats and cars were very modest compared to the chicken trucks and giant madeleine cakemobile.

I was in a car, and after an incredibly brief stop at the Village du Depart where I managed to hastily snap five photos, most of which are crap, we whizzed through the streets of Paris with our driver clearly enjoying himself as he blasted along normally packed boulevards whilst tinkling his horn. I wound down the window to take some snaps and was immediately lifted by the jolly atmosphere – despite the most torrential rain I’d seen in a long while, the crowds were waving, smiling and depending on their nationality, doing a lot of drinking too.

A quick look at my watch revealed the riders had set off on their ride, and that’s when I realised I wasn’t actually going to see much of the race and started WhatsApping Dave for updates – he was watching live on TV in the UK and reporting live to me, in Paris. Once in hospitality at Place du Concord I ate a raspberry macaroon the size of my face whilst watching Chris Froome drink champagne on TV then grabbed a red wine and dragged the highest chair I could find over to the barriers, eager to see the riders coming through on their first laps of the Champs Elysees.

As the weather was so terrible, the clock for the overall race had been stopped 41km into the stage so Froome simply had to make it over the line without slipping on the cobblestones of the Champs Elysee. For him, it was a victory parade and we unleashed an enormous cheer as the man in the yellow jersey made his first sweep through the square, and thankfully, no one threw wee at him.

Battling it out at the front for the stage were Andre Greipel, Bryan Coquard and Alexander Kristoff and they blasted pass us five times in total making me glad I had such a good viewing spot and that it wasn’t just a one off fly by like when I saw the Tour of Britain go past me so quickly that I could barely tell one rider from the next.

In the end, alongside Froome taking the overall win and his second TDF title as well as doubling up and nabbing the climber’s jersey that matches my tablecloth, Greipel proved his might and won the stage. And with that, we raised our glasses of champagne and saluted the winner of the toughest race in the world. Allez Froome e merci Ibis!

Several months ago I wrote a piece for the Brooks website about my battle with training. It was a kind of jokey piece, basically saying that I didn’t much like having to ride my bike in a certain way for a prescribed amount of time because cycling is to me, more about having fun and being free-spirited. Although I wanted to be fitter and stronger, I’d found the best approach was to just ride as much as I could and to push myself hard on those rides, sneakily training whilst simply cycling because I ride so much anyway that I didn’t think that approach would work out too badly.

Then I entered the Red Hook Crit with just a month before the race, and after asking on Twitter how much difference a month of ‘real’ training could make, I found myself with a coach for a month and decided to give training a go.

Head over to the Brooks blog to read about my conclusions.

And check the #GetCycleFit posts on this blog for more detailed explanations of my month long training challenge.

One of my previous posts about the hurdles facing female cyclists was sparked by my own personal experiences down here in my neck of the woods. I’ve heard some feedback from women with thriving scenes in their area (London), which is fantastic, but it it’s not replicated everywhere so when I decided I wanted to try racing track I realised I’d have to race men or not race at all, as there isn’t a single women’s race for me to enter anywhere near where I live.

My nearest velodrome is still a four hour round trip and in another country (Wales), so making the decision to try something I’d probably suck at wasn’t an easy one – I’m short of time and money and honestly wasn’t sure it would be worth travelling all that way to have my arse kicked and be wildly intimidated. But yesterday I just so happened to be in Wales so I threw caution to the wind and signed up to do my first race. Newport Velodrome’s Summer Track League is ideal for new racers – it’s split into two groups and the B group is for newcomers, juniors and people looking to improve their racing.

I felt a bit nervous when I signed on, but the people running the show were super nice and friendly, as were the other riders so that helped enormously. We were given a full briefing before each race to make sure we understood what we were going to do, then it was straight on to the racing. I had no idea how I’d fare in a race made up of nine men and six teenage boys and no women, but there was only one way to find out.

The first race was a 14 lap scratch race, which means the first person over the line wins. I did terribly. It was awfully, awfully hard and all I managed to do was hold on for a few laps before I blew up and got dropped, so I barely got to even race properly – I just lost everyone and spent the rest of the ‘race’ riding around on my own. Coming off the track, my throat felt red hot and I tried not to panic when I felt my chest constricting and limiting my breathing. As baptisms go, it was more than fiery and I felt really disheartened and bewildered.

BUT, I’d signed up for all six races so I went back for more! The next few races were an 8 lap Hare and Hounds, an elimination race with one out every other lap, a 5 lap dash, a Course de Primes with 9 laps, and finally a 32 lap points race, and whilst I badly wanted to enjoy it, I have to confess I’m not really sure I did; psychologically, it was very tough sucking so badly and having to keep putting yourself out there knowing you’re going to spectacularly fail. It all just made me wonder why I was there when there are other things I’m actually fairly good at. Was it all really worth it? Then there was the physical pain…

So all in all, it was crap! My gearing was too spinny, my tactics were non existent and my fitness was way off the mark. On the plus side, the other riders, coaches and commissaries were really, really nice and that helped a great deal. And in the final race, I actually got the chance to work with other riders and muscle my way into the action every now and again, because the longer format gave me more opportunity to do so – I could sit high on the banking for a break and then nip back in when I felt like it.

So will I go back? Yes. I’m going to change my gearing to something heavier and give it another bash next week. If there’s fun lurking somewhere in the pain, I’m hoping to tease it out week by week. It can only get easier, right?

To celebrate a new partnership between awesome British bike brand Charge and purveyors of very fine alternative accommodation Canopy and Stars, the husband and I were dispatched to Dartmoor with a pair of new bicycles for a spell in the most wonderful tent I’ve ever seen.

Yes, it is such a very hard life, but I took one for the team, truly I did.

Though made of canvas, a stay at The Nest at Leewood is very different from ‘regular’ camping, so I suppose it’s worth using that rather horrid word ‘glamping,’ to describe it. And even though I adore normal camping, I have to say it was pretty heavenly living outdoors for a few days but being extremely comfortable whilst doing so, particularly as we aren’t often blessed with the best weather.

The outdoor kitchen was quite the coolest damn thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and I pretty much squealed with delight for the first half hour. The huge tent was filled with tapestries, rugs, mirrors, drapes and an enormous bed and even had a wood-burning stove, so we actually got undressed before going to bed and were – shock horror – warm. It all felt so decadent in the best possible way – a bit of luxury with the focus on things that matter to me; I absolutely adore spending as much time as possible outside, barbecuing, pottering about barefoot, paddling in rivers and drinking beers under the stars.

As The Nest is located just on the edge of Dartmoor, it made an ideal base for trying out the newly introduced Charge Bikes Cooker 27 plus. I’d had a chat with Nick from Charge at their recent press day about his reasons for changing the wheel size of the entire Cooker range from 29 to 27 – like many people I just can’t keep up with all the chopping and changing and was interested to get his perspective.

I was informed that the new 27 plus bikes keep a lot of the high rolling capabilities of the 29ers but with more maneuverability, and that the 2.8-inch tyres on 40mm rim make the bike ‘chubby’ rather than ‘fat.’ Which is good because I’ve never really felt the need for a fat bike myself – riding on sand or snow just isn’t my bag.

I rode the entry level Cooker 1, an aluminium frame that comes with 1-11 gearing, an aluminium suspension adjusted fork, custom tubeless ready rims and Race Face bars and seatpost.

Nick had told me to run the tyre pressure super low to take advantage of the cushioning and grip the wide tyres deliver, so I was a little concerned the bike would feel really slow. Thankfully, those fears were unfounded – I found the bike responsive and extremely fun, and I felt my energy was efficiently converted into forward motion rather than lost in spongy tyres, in fact I was actually amazed at how fast it was. It was utterly ideal for Dartmoor and the well-known Princetown railway loop.

I also took it on some of the rockier sections, and despite the fact it’s got a rigid fork, the Cooker handled the bumps very well and kept rolling straight over them. In my opinion, you’d be better off going for a decent and solid rigid bike like this than one with an extremely budget suspension fork.The tagline for the new Cookers reads ‘more grip, more speed, more miles and more fun,’ and I’d have to agree. I’d love to load this bike up with some frame bags and head off on an adventure somewhere! Maybe a tour of Canopy and Star’s finest locations? I’ve seen some incredible treehouses listed on there!

I recently hooked up with the lovely guys at Fred Perry in London to organise a fun, social ride to celebrate the release of their super nice cycling cities patch collection. Designed by local artists, the patches celebrate the thread of creativity that runs through cycling’s passionate devotees, showcasing some of the finest city rides in the world. Just as cycling means more than just pedalling, the locations on the patches speak to the heart as well as the body and were chosen by the artists as they capture cycling’s camaraderie.

I was delighted to join up in more than one capacity – both behind the scenes (wearing my copy-writing and marketing cap) and on the bike (wearing a helmet) to lead the ride itself.

The London patch is designed by Thomas Slater and features London’s worst kept cycling secret – Swains Lane –  a road that  features on many a bucket list and is regularly named ‘best hill in London.’ But even though the hill is widely acknowledged as being fairly challenging (by London standards), the aim of our Sunday Ride Out was not to grimace, gurn and sweat our way up, but rather to have a chat and a giggle whilst rolling around London then head to Look Mum No Hands for coffee and cake.

With places on the ride strictly numbered, I was joined by a small but excited bunch at Fred Perry’s Spitalfields store on Sunday, all keen for a potter, and by some stroke of luck it turned out everyone was really friendly and very easy to get on with. With the Sunday traffic fairly quiet, we wound our way up through Holloway getting to know one and other, continuing through Tufnel Park to arrive at the foot of Swains Lane, which some had been dreading, others eager to conquer. Everyone rode up at their own pace and managed just fine, some arriving sweatier than others, then we stopped for a natter before bombing down the adjoining road for a cruise down to Look Mum No Hands. It was such a pleasant ride with no time schedule, no Garmin, and the chance to make new friends – I’m definitely up for organising more social rides.

Once at Look Mum No Hands, we distributed the patches and forged new friendships over coffees, pies, cakes and some rather nice beer (The Kernel’s Pale Ale). The next four My Patch rides will follow the same format and take place in New York, Tokyo, Paris and Munich. I think I definitely need to be at all of them to make sure everything runs smoothly…… so here’s hoping!

Photos: Daniel Benson for Fred Perry

The last week has been really fun and packed full of all kinds of riding, racing and travelling.

To kick things off, last Tuesday I returned to Newport Velodrome for my second attempt at racing their track league. I wrote a blog post about my previous visit which was the first time I’d ever raced track, and it was an extremely negative post, but you know, that’s how I felt after a really tough and disheartening evening. I think honesty is always the best policy on blogs such as mine, and hopefully helps other women realise that the people they read about go through the same things as they do. It can be easy to get the wrong impression from social media.

The point of going to these track races is certainly not to win anything as at my level at this moment in time, racing against men including my husband and Cat2 racers, I have no chance at all so my aim is simply to learn, have fun and increase my fitness. It was not fun the week before but I was determined not to form an opinion based on one experience, so I went back with an open mind, just hoping to hold on a little longer and  improve..

I changed my gearing to 90 gear inches, noticeably heavier than the previous week’s 86 gear inches and made sure that when we rolled onto the track I didn’t just go out in last place – last week I’d been feeling so timid that I’d always start at the back which made things way more difficult than they needed to be. I also made sure not to just stick to the black line on the inside of the track as I found out the hard way that it doesn’t make it easier because it gives you the shortest lap to ride, it actually means you get totally boxed in and can’t move around when you need to.

As soon as we started racing I realised this week was going to be much more fun! The gearing and tactics made all the difference, and rather than being dropped immediately I was actually able to race all of the races to the end apart from the elimination race, and I even stayed in that longer than the previous week.

It was still very tough as racing track is such an intense experience. It’s pretty bonkers really  – you have to make split second decisions whilst whizzing around a steep track at very high speed in ultra close proximity to other riders, and all that whilst hardly being able to breathe or pedal. The lack of oxygen makes thinking much more difficult than it normally is, so it’s hard to focus on tactics, particularly when you have none to begin with!

The next day we were back in Devon where I’d organised a chain gang at Torbay Velopark for members of Mid Devon CC. It was a really great chance to meet new riders and see some friendly faces whilst practicing  group riding, and myself and Dave made good use of our British Cycling coaching qualifications sharing a few tips and helping some of the riders with their cornering. Our mid-pace chain gang is running every Wednesday at 7.30 at the Velopark, so please feel free to come and join us and see if it’s for you – you don’t need to join the club until you’ve been a few times. The Velopark Facebook page has all the details.

On Saturday we headed up to Bristol to visit our friends and go to the Tunnel Sprints organised by Das Rad Klub. After checking out some of the bands at Dean Lane Hardcore all-dayer, we got some great veggie food at Roll For The Soul then headed down the cycle path towards Bath to meet everyone. It was such a fun evening, racing head to head down a 250km stretch with the winner progressing to the next round. In the end, I was knocked out by the eventual winner, a track racer on the Team GB development squad, so I didn’t feel too bad about that. Dave fared less well as he put down so much power when he started that he pulled his wheel forward in the dropout and was immediately eliminated, poor sod! Too many watts!!!

On Sunday we drove to London where I’d organised a ride for Fred Perry to celebrate the release of their lovely cycling patches. Read more about that here.

Last night I skipped track league as there was a women’s race at Westpoint in Exeter, and as there are relatively few women’s races I didn’t want to miss it. It was a beautifully sunny evening and the turnout was much better than the last race I did and so was the riding, with us all taking turns to go for sprints and some interesting tactics. I felt proud to be able to hold my own amongst the more experienced Cat2 and Cat3 racers as I wasn’t feeling too sure about how I’d do before I got there. In the end, I didn’t really have enough in the legs in the sprint for the line but I felt pretty chuffed at how I did nonetheless as I’ve never really considered myself that athletic, coming from a background of lifestyle sports such as BMX, skateboarding and snowboarding where fitness came secondary to drinking, rather than racing, in which I’ve only dabbled in this year.

Photo: Ryan Maynard Eames

Which brings me to this week and a whole load more fun. This Saturday I’ll be up in London at Wagfest, a day of talks, demos, chats and cake organised by London Bike Kitchen and taking place at the Oakley Residence pop-up store on Exmouth Market. Mid afternoon, I’m chairing a panel discussing women’s racing which should make for some interesting debate, so please come down and join us – entry is by donation.

Sometimes life throws up unexpected opportunities, and I’m all for seizing them with both hands, so when Peugeot asked me if I fancied a weekend away in Wales driving the new 208 to one of my favourite spots to ride, of course I leapt at the chance. Dave and I love South Wales so much that when we decided to move back from Italy we very seriously considered living there – there’s just so much great mountain biking with numerous top-class trail centres, excellent singletrack, beautiful coasts and one of the country’s five indoor velodromes.

In the end, I chose Bike Park Wales for my Re-Energised Weekend, quite simply because I love it there and I’ll take any excuse for a visit. And as luck would have it, I got to ride the new blue trail, Terry’s Belly before it opened, which is ‘the longest blue descent in the UK, at 4.2km,’ extremely fun and packed full of fast swooping berms.

I also got to film with Liam Murphy which was great – I massively appreciated that Peugeot had taken the time to source someone who knows their stuff rather than just sending a random filmer with no idea about shooting mountain bikes stuff.

Anyway, I’m off to the Red Hook Crit tomorrow morning and I’ve got to pack, so I’ll leave you with the video to watch. Hope you like it!