...or, how I stopped worrying and learned to love the burn

[bob_summers]

Yeah, I'm sure they were slowing a bit on the hills
Checked the gps, 45kmh avg for that bit!

Itching for MTB this weekend.

Fri 13/01
MTB Andoain-Adarra-Arano-Hernani
4hrs

Social ride, took a friend out on a new (for him) route. Quite a hilly route, over 1200m of climbing in about 50km.

Sun 15/01
MTB Errenteria, Sorondo etc
3 hrs

Club run, this is the "stop and chat" group so I went on the SS to at least add a bit of struggle
Very wet and gloopy, an extra challenge with only one way to climb! I ended up walking the steepest stuff but didn't hold anyone up.

[bob_summers]

Tues 17/01
Tolosa-Leitza-Basa Kabi-Goizueta
4hrs

Felt a bit slow and sluggish, dead legs from stupid singlespeeding on Sunday. Also, glands in my neck are a bit swollen (so much so my helmet strap was tight and uncomfortable!). So didn't feel like like much today, but the weather was good and there's bad stuff on the way so I went out to get 100k in the legs. Struggled pretty much all the way around, was lucky again to catch a truck for a few kms just when the headwind was getting very tiresome. Got home with no time for a shower or food, straight out to class grrr!!

In other news... I missed out in the QH lottery by, oh, about 4000 numbers so I know what I'm not doing this year.
Now to figure out what I am doing

[Mr. Cleetus]

ahh sucko, too bad! What about one of the Enduros in the Alps?

[Alistar]

Oh no! Bad luck. Oh well I spose you've been able to ride it in the last couple which is pretty cool.

[bob_summers]

yeah, something you have to do once if you live here, and I'll apply next year but there's too much other stuff out there to get bummed about it.

Would like to get out to the Alps MrC but it all depends on what's on in July, I'm off all month but it's totally inflexible. Could do a one day event...

[bob_summers]

Thu 19/1
Aizarnazabal loop, N634
3h @ 29kmh

Hmm, felt a sore throat coming on last night, woke up worse but decided to get out anyway.
My head was not in this at all, almost bailed after 10mins, but the legs kept on ticking away so I went with them.

Not feeling much better now, off for an early night. It's totally the wrong night of the year for this - Día de San Sebastián kicks off at midnight - 24hrs of marching bands wandering the city, playing outside bars for free beer. And there's a bar right outside the bedroom window...

[bob_summers]

Bedridden by a fever and man flu all weekend, so no rides to log
I survived el día de San Sebastián, it wasn't as noisy as other years thanks to crap weather. Had a day trip to France to buy a new frying pan (er there's logic in that somehow) but on the train back I was feeling super rotten and spent the rest of the weekend sweating it out in bed or on the sofa.
Today (Sunday) I'm over the worst, feeling a bit spaced and coughing a lot, hoping to start training again on Tuesday.

[Mr. Cleetus]

ahhhh crap, that sucks!

I hope it is an excellent frying pan! Let's see a pic of it.

[bob_summers]

I hope so too, I procrastinated long enough over it. I'll post up a pic when it's full of yummies.

Tues 24/1
Tolosa-Leitza-Goizueta
3h40

Was in two minds about going out today, it wasn't the most pleasant of experiences but it didn't kill me so maybe it was the right thing to do. I was feeling a bit better, cough had turned "productive" (eww...) so it was a real snot-fest (ewww...).
No slower than normal, haven't checked the GPS to confirm tho.
This run is my club's race, which I hope I can do this year (might get roped into driving the broom wagon or something) as last year I flatted on the start line and never got back into it. Have to lose around 40 minutes from my winter time to do anything better than mid pack....

[Alistar]

Sorry to hear of your flu slowing your k's down , but at least you're over the worst.
Club race sounds pretty hardcore. Imagine there's lots of good riders around those parts.

[bob_summers]

Thu 26/01
Tolosa-Leitza-Goizueta
3h50

Getting very bored of this run now! That's almost 8 hours I've been riding it this week alone!
Puncture livened it up today at least. It really does make it a bit more exciting, as I have to time this run to perfection - have to be in class at 2pm and can't set off any earlier than 9, so a puncture or a lousy time would mean sacrificing lunch and shower... disaster!
Sloooower... I was 10m down on Tues' time when I got to the top of the course (had stopped the clock for the puncture so it wasn't that), and got in the door with enough time for some lunch but the shower had to wait, phhhooooo....

[bob_summers]

Sun 29/1
Aia Loop, Igeldo x 2
2h10

Lousy weather, the sun made a brief appearance but it was sloshy and slippery all the way.

Just discovered strava. Uploaded all my rides this year onto it and happily bagged a few KOMs (although on most of them, mine is the only recorded time!) but I was annoyed to see my Kukuarri-Igeldo PB was some 5mins off the pace. So I attacked it with fresh legs and tactics today, hurried home and plugged in the garmin... knocked off another minute but still over 4mins down
Then it suddenly clicked that the time I'm trying to beat was set on stage 5 of the 2010 Tour of the Basque Country by Christian Meier.

I'm still going to beat the fucker

http://app.strava.com/activities/3705772

[Mr. Cleetus]

Duuude, are you serious? 5 mins down is a victory in my book. How long is the climb?

It's reporting watts - have I missed that you have a PM now, or is it an estimate based on weight, speed, avg gradient, etc?

[bob_summers]

Cheers MrC, I appreciate it but he's on 12m04 and I'm 16m43, we're worlds apart! It's 4.5km. On the bright side, if I can do that time in January with a snotty cold, I can whittle it down some when I've got my climbing legs on...

Funny enough, I can remember the day that time was set. I'd been scuttling around watching the race pass from about 3 different points. It passed me at the bottom of that hill and, since I was going home that way, I latched onto the broom wagon intending to suck its wheel over the mountain. I couldn't. Even the spent domestiques, the sprinters with 160km of racing behind them, just trying to finish inside the cut off, left me for dead!

No PM, it's based on weight and gradient.. since I'm only guessing how much the bike and I weigh, it's gonna be way off. I'll get one when the pedal systems are affordable

[Alistar]

Oh oh! You've found some pro climbing times! There'll be no stopping you now! Go Bob!:D Yeah quite amazing how fast pro sprinters and big TTers types can climb up hills. Sometimes we forget that they're fantastic all round cyclists compared to normal. Just extra freakishly good in their specialist roles.

I'm only 3mins behind up Dyers pass when at my best(about five or six mins behind atm) compared to the times I know of Couldn't even call him a climber in the pro sense which I still can't get my head around.