Since the begining of December the aim of my training has been to improve technique and strengths for cycling, without long hours on the road which will come later. There are four different elements to my program. The first was the purchase of a Garmin Edge 705 Cycle Computer. This has GPS functions with maps. Currently fitted with a map NZ and Australia and a map of Europe ready for July. A daily route can be uploaded. This will be done during the Tour so we can find our way. During ride the route map is saved and later downloaded onto a PC. All the ride functions are recorded and saved for future analysis. I have been setting up different rides of 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours as standards with a goal beat next time.
The second element of my training is the strength training in the gym and attend once or twice a week.
The third element of my training is a series of DVD's from CycloCore; eleven different programs take a specific element of cycling technique and show how to improve it. This series is designed by Graeme Street and is a mix of drills, spinnervals, mental toughness, breathing technique and massage.
The fourth and final element of my training is the use of a borrowed Tacx Fortius training system. The bike is hooked up to a typical indoor fixed trainer which is fitted with an electric motor that brakes your pedalling or drives the back wheel for climbing or descending respectively. Added into this is a video of classic climbs or routes around the globe. The bike is wound along the route and the real time video is progressed from start to finish. I started this on New Years Day with a successful climb of Alp d'Huez. Subsequently I have added Mont Ventoux (twice), Galibier (twice), Telegraph (once) and Alp d'Huez (twice more). I have progressed from a stop every 10 minutes then every 20 minutes and finally non-stop. To date I have only done Alp d'Huez non-stop. Benefits are obvious, after seven climbs, I did d'Huez non-stop and my bpm seldom rose above 150bpm, except over the last 3k when I was pushing hard to go under 100 minutes for the 13.5k climb.
