Fundraising (if you only read one blog post....)

So, this really is the one post that everyone should read (and in reality the reason behind all the others).....

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, both recently and way back in 2009, the Tour de Force is a charity event created by and for the William Wates Memorial Trust whose mission is to help the most disadvantaged young people keep away from a life of crime and violence and fulfil their potential. This is achieved by giving grants to charities that engage young people through the mediums of sport, arts and education.

We will all of course be raising as much money as possible for the William Wates Memorial Trust. In addition to this the Tour de Force team have been exceptionally kind and accommodating in letting a large number of riders riding in memory of Dan join up with their event and raise money independently for the Daniel Bagshaw Memorial Trust in addition to the William Wates Memorial Trust.

The Daniel Bagshaw Memorial Trust, amongst other things, will focus on raising money (1) for charities which raise awareness amongst the general public of cardiac risk in the young, and fund research into early diagnosis, and (2) to provide financial assistance/bursaries to talented school pupils in the Lancashire region where Dan grew up to help them to fulfil their potential.

Doing something in Dan’s memory is deeply personal to many of us and we all really hope that we can raise as much as possible to help a charity that is in its infancy and which promises to do fabulous things.

I now have a donations page up and running, which can be found here, for anyone that wishes to donate to this worthy cause. A portion of all money raised will, of course, also be going to the William Wates Memorial Trust.

Should you need any encouragement to sponsor me, bear the following in mind:

• I will be completing 7 full stages of the Tour de France in 7 days (that's every kilometre and every mountain pass)
• I will be riding over 1,000km across France
• I will spending the majority of that time cycling through the mountains in the Alps
• I will be doing the longest stage of the Tour de France (clocking in at 242km and ending at the summit of one of the most iconic and feared climbs in the Tours history)
• I have given up alcohol (this is not true, although those that have seen me get p*ssed on two pints will confirm I have at least cut back)
• I have been getting up at 5.30am most days of the week to train for 1-2 hours before work
• I will have spent, adding up all the hours, over 3 whole days on my turbo trainer (in just a rather fetching set of (almost see through) bib shorts, heart rate monitor and a full set of 80's sweatbands - Vicky loves this)
• I will be taking unpaid leave to do two intensive training camps in the Dolomites and the Ardennes (these are training camps, not holidays. Training camps.)
• I have been training in all weather in Hong Kong, sometimes even when the temperature has been below 10 Celsius
• I am covering the cost of the trip entirely myself (I even had to buy a very expensive new bike for the trip, in fact a lot of new kit has been 'necessary') and every penny raised will go directly to DMBT (and WWMT)
• Should I reach my target amount I will (most probably) shave my legs (those of you that have seen how hairy my legs are will appreciate that professional help will be required...)

Dig deep!

Bike Porn: Legend Il Re

Back in December 2012, just days before my wedding day and in the midst of the final planning stages, I snuck off for the afternoon (Vicky was probably having some 'treatment' or another no doubt) to Le Beau Velo in Shoreditch for a clandestine meeting about a new bike. A last chance for a self-indulgent purchase before everything became 'ours'....?!

I had heard great things about Le Beau Velo and had been encouraged to speak to Mal (the extremely knowledgeable and passionate owner) about having a bike fitting with a view to having a custom built frame made. If I am honest, not a huge amount of encouragement was necessary.

Despite getting initially lost trying to find the place, as you'd expect, I was still a little early and after a brief introduction with Mal I was offered a coffee (although, shockingly for a Shoreditch establishment, of the instant variety) and made myself at home on the sofa whilst I watched the customer before me being put through his paces learning some new (painful) looking stretches on the workshop floor.

Following a quick chat with Mal about what type of bike I was looking for (a 'bike for life') and what type of riding I was hoping to do / get out of the bike (long distances, some climbing, all at a modest pace) I was then weighed and various parts of my body were measured and catalogued. Once done Mal snuck off to put together the ideal frame geometry for a person of my size and shape and with my stated aims, leaving me with Jo who would be assessing just how flexible I was. Pretty flexible in some aspects and very inflexible in others it turned out. It was also relatively apparent I had grown up playing rugby (despite having shed most of the bulk from my upper body).

I was then on the bike jig (a kind of fully adjustable stationary bike frame), that Mal had set up for my suggested geometry based the measurements taken and some feed back based on my flexibility. After some pedalling, some tinkering, a little more tinkering and then a bit more pedalling a final set up was decided and agreed upon.

Armed with a full set of measurements and the ideal geometry for a frame the discussion then moved to the most important part - what frame was I interested in. We discussed it a little, but I had done my homework and already had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted. Le Beau Velo carry frames from a relatively new Italian company called 'Legend' headed by Marco Bertoletti (with over 20 years of hand-building custom frames). I had recently read an article in Rouleur about the brand and the titanium range of bikes sounded absolutely awesome. It really was only a question of which frame (the Il Re; I wasn't a fan of the integrated carbon seatpost on the flagship model), whether I wanted mechanical or electronic shifting (mechanical given the more classic styling of the frame and the fact that the technology is still, relatively speaking, in its infancy) and whether or not the cabling should be internally routed (internally routed gave it a cleaner look I thought). Subtle, muted graphics were also decided on (if the factory was able to do it).

I came away from Le Beau Velo with a number of feelings: (i) I had been extremely well looked after (I spent the best part of 2.5 hours one-to-one with Mal and Jo) and that Mal and Jo were both really interested in helping me improve my cycling and get more enjoyment out of it and not to just push an expensive frame on me (I wouldn't hesitate to recommend heading down and getting a bike fit done), (ii) considerably poorer..., and (iii) wondering how I was going to be able to wait for 3-4 months for the frame to arrive in Hong Kong!

Last week the waiting finally ended and the bike arrived, fully built up in Hong Kong and, after ensuring there was no chance of rain, I headed out to take the bike for its maiden ride this weekend.

Firstly, the bike looks amazing! Secondly, it rides like a dream. A combination of fitting me perfectly (I didn't think there was an issue with my Cervelo, but the difference is noticable) and the titanium frame result in a really comfortable and responsive ride. The titanium really smooths out the road without sacrificing too much rigidity. It doesn't quite have the punch of a carbon bike when you're jumping out of the saddle, but in reality I am not prone to doing that often in any event.

Anyway, full details of the build are below along with some pictures.

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Frameset: 2013 Legend Il Re, Titanium (made to measure)

Handlebar: Deda Zero 100 aluminium 420mm c-c

Stem: Deda Zero 100 aluminium 100mm

Seatpost: Legend Titanium

Groupset: SRAM Force

Crankset: SRAM Force, 172.5mm, 50/34

Bottom bracket: GXP

Wheelset: Fast Forward F6R Carbon/Alloy Clincher (decals painstakingly removed)

Power meter: CycleOps Powertap Pro Hub (24H)

Cassette: PG1070, 12-28

Saddle: Fi'zi:k Arione R1 carbon rail

Pedals: Look Keo Blade Carbon Ti Pedals 12Nm Spring (Yellow) 

Tyres: Continental Grand Prix 4 Season 

Handlebar tape: Lizard Skin 

Bottle cages: LifeLine Titanium

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The Mighty Watt...!!! (if you don't like numbers, don't read on)

I would say that it is pretty well know that I have a number of what can only be described as 'geeky' or 'nerdy' inclinations. It is for this reason that I love the numbers that my power meter spews at me during and after every ride.

Power, or more specifically the mighty "Watt", has become the focus of my training rides (I still enjoy the scenery and the taste of blood at the back of my throat, don't worry). Watts are the energy required to a move a mass a certain distance in a known time period i.e. me and my bike travelling along or up a road. The number that pops up on my bike computer essentially represents the force and speed at which I am pedalling the pedals on my bike.

Knowing this number, in real time and post-ride, removes most of the guesswork that goes into training and racing. Power meters allow you to test yourself regularly and establish a baseline from which to to focus your training and riding. As you will, hopefully, see below power meters can also provide highly accurate details about how your fitness is changing throughout the season.

See here for a better (and more complete) explanation of why you need a power meter...

But in order to save you from a long and boring post about 'critical power curves', 'functional threshold power', "circumferential velocity" I have tried to set out below my first three (and a bit) months of training this year in graphical format (click on them to make them bigger).

There are obviously a lot of (exciting) numbers behind these graphs, some of which I don't fully understand myself, so I will only briefly try to explain them. I have tried to keep it simple, probably at the expense of accuracy... However, if the graphs/charts are still incomprehensible, the rule of 'line going up = good' and 'line going down = bad' generally holds true. Thankfully the lines generally seem to be going up.... must be doing something right!

Summary in numbers...

Firstly, a brief summary in numbers.

It seems that I have been out for 53 rides totalling 90hrs, covering a distance of 1,990km and gaining 20,000m in elevation. Apparently I was only actually moving for for 77.5hrs of that; so question what I did for the other 12.5hrs?! Clearly my snooze on the beach on Lantau was longer than I thought! An average speed of 25km/h is relatively respectable given the hilly nature of Hong Kong and normalised power (essentially a fancy weighted average) of 199W isn't bad too. All of this was done at an average of 72% 'intensity'...

There appears to have been a large amount of soft pedalling though - almost 38hrs of it spent at 'Active Recovery' levels of intensity or 45% of the time! I guess the frequent descents in Hong Kong have contributed to that. The number I care about most is the time spent at 'Threshold' (that is in the range around the highest average power or speed that I could maintain for one hour) - 11.5hrs or 14% is pretty good but with room to improve over the next few months.

Time and Distance

Still keeping it pretty simple, the above graph doesn't really require too much explanation. You  can see that the majority of my rides have been around an hour in length - pretty much the time it takes to cycle up Mt Butler and the Peak or to do a good turbo session. Vicky and my ten day holiday sticks out too (more on that later). Hopefully these numbers will steadily increase over the next few months.

Power and Speed Trends

The above graph shows the average power and speed of all my individual rides. The larger points representing the 'best 25'. The graph doesn't take into account the length of the ride so the best 25 results for each are likely to represent the shorter, more intense rides with the lower values being the longer endurance rides. Two lines on an upward trend is progress.... in terms of power it represents an improvement from an average of 153W on 1 January to 197W on 11 April - a 29% improvement.

Critical Power Trend

We're moving into more geeky territory here. The above represents the best average power over a 60mins period during each ride, with the larger points representing the best 10. Again, the upward trend shows an improvement (165W to 207W, in fact - a 25% improvement) with the majority of the 'best' rides being the more recent.

Critical Power Curve

I promised it wouldn't get too nerdy and that I wouldn't be talking about 'critical power curves', sorry, this one is important...

The above graph essentially shows the maximum power output I have managed for a given interval of time over the course of 2013. The dashed red line is what I should theoretically be able to maintain for each period based on these results. Why's this helpful and why should I care? Well it helps me to establish just how hard I can pedal for a given period of time. For example, if I wanted to cycle at 333W for 20mins I would know I would have to cycle harder than I have so far this year. Conversely, 240W should be easy to maintain for 20mins (in fact, the curve tells me I have already held 240W for 52 mins this year).

From these you can establish 'zones' (e.g. 'active recovery', 'endurance', 'threshold') - the coloured shading above - and measure your effort over the course of a climb or ride to avoid exhausting yourself and blowing up.

[Note the sharp drop off in power at around 14-16 min - the climbs in Hong Kong take about this time - I basically just run out of road...]

Performace Management Chart

The last one, phew!

In essence the above graph shows my 'fitness' (and predicted fitness) up until 6 July and the start of the Tour de Force. Without too much detail (which I couldn't explain anyway), the green line represents my fitness levels (technically my, 'chronic training load'), the blue line my fatigue levels (or 'accute training load') and the black line represents that nebulous concept, 'form'.

A green line going upwards is a good sign of improving fitness, and we can see that it has been creeping up over the past 3 months. Long may that continue! Periods of intensive training obviously help push up the green line, but will cause a sharp increase in fatigue/blue line and have a negative impact on form/black line. As the Tour de Force approaches it will be important to ensure that I taper my training effectively to reduce the level of fatigue and increase my form, without losing too much of my fitness.

One interesting thing about the graph is the impact a 10 day holiday had on all three of the lines. Clearly a nice rest meant that I was less fatigued and as a result my form went up, but no activity at all meant that I lost almost 4 weeks of fitness - it will take a little while to get back into shape....


There are more, many more, graphs and figures to share but I will spare you for now. In summary though, the training is going well and I am enjoying monitoring it and planning sessions with the help of the power meter -  a geek at heart.

Hopefully a more light hearted blog next time....

Hills of Hong Kong: The Beast

As the second part in the series looking at the Hills of Hong Kong, here is "The Beast" on Lantau Island.

Probably only second to The Peak in notoriety amongst the lycra fraternity, this aptly named climb is found at the centre of Lantau Island, connecting the north and the south coasts of the island.

For most it means jumping on the MTR or grabbing a 'man with a van' to travelling out to Lantau Island, the largest island in Hong Kong. Lantau Island primarily consists of mountainous terrain and is often referred to as "the lungs of Hong Kong", because of its abundance of indigenous forest and relative scarcity of skyscrappers and infrastructure (despite being home to Hong Kong's international airport).

Tung Chung Road weaving its way up past Lantau and Sunset Peaks

The Route

Leaving the airport town of Tung Chung you quickly hit Tung Chung Road, heading south along a pass bisecting Lantau Peak (at 934m the second highest peak in Hong Kong) and Sunset Peak (at 869m the third highest).

The road rolls along gently for a brief time before hitting a small roundabout that signifies the start of the climb to the other side of Lantau, cresting at 295 metres above sea-level before plummeting down an exhilarating decent to Cheung Sha Beach on the south coast.



There are more 'hidden' black sections to this climb than it appears.... honest


The climb is a relatively short 2.6km with an average gradient of 10.2%, but that doesn't tell the full story, the last 1.5km rarely dips below 14% with numerous ramps hitting between 16 and 18%. There really is no let up.

The Climb

There are few roads in Hong Kong that I enjoy cycling up less than the Beast. It looms over every trip to Lantau. Despite arguably not really being the worse climb on Lantau, it is invariably the first climb of the day and is a brutal way to wake up your legs.

A gentle first 500m to 1km gives no clue as to the leg burning gradients that follow. A brief ramp flattens out before the true climbing begins at 1km with the gradients constantly flicking between 14-16%. With the road carved into the mountainside there is not much to distract your eye from the asphalt wall in front of you and the concrete slopes to your left.

Looking back to Tung Chung having tamed the Beast

A brief hairpin to the right at 500m to the summit provides a slight flattening of the road (still not below 12% though...) and a mental milestone allowing you to power the final steep ramp to the top.

The climb is unrelenting and, in all but the winter month(s), is exposed to the baking sun and humidty of Hong Kong. The climbing is difficult, but cooling yourself down and keeping your heart rate out of the red can be just as challenging.

Summary

In spite of its diminutive length and deceptive average gradient the Beast is a climb not to be taken lightly; even experienced cyclists have underestimated the demands, been found wanting and needed to unclip. It is a classic example of the short, wall like climbs that are Hong Kong's forte. It deserves its reputation and name!

Its Strava leaderboard can be found here.

Hills of Hong Kong: The Peak

As the first part of a short series looking at the 'famous' climbs of Hong Kong, here is "The Peak" on Hong Kong Island.

Whilst Hong Kong does not offer long Alpine style climbs (5-6 km would be considered a pretty long climb here) it does have a number of easily accessible roads that are great for getting some climbing training in. Across a number of posts I will attempt to provide a brief (insightful?) write up of some of those climbs, from the more gentle and scenic to the some of the short, but brutal, 'wall' like climbs.

The Peak, a 'mountain' on the western side of Hong Kong Island with an altitude of 552m, is probably one of the most famous landmarks in Hong Kong, offering panoramic views across Central, Victoria Harbour, Lamma and outlying islands

Originally the exclusive retreat of wealthy (non-Chinese) residents who reached their homes by sedan chairs and later by the Peak Tram funicular which opened in 1888, the road leading up to the Peak now finds a plethora of cyclists grinding their way up it every morning via the circuitous Peak Road.

At 1.4km long and gaining just under 400m, the Peak Tram is the most direct route to the top...

The Route

Starting at the base of Wong Nai Chung Gap Road and halfway up Stubbs Road, Stubbs Road climbs west, merging into Peak Road, before continuing towards the leisure and shopping centres found at 432 meters above sea-level.

Lots of blue.... just what we like to see

It is 5.3km long with an average gradient of 5.2% making it a relatively tame climb, despite the audible gasps non-cyclists let out when cycling up the Peak is mentioned in conversation. Despite sounding impressive, it really isn't that hard to cycle up - there a certainly plenty of climbs in Hong Kong that are much tougher....

The Climb

As with most roads in Hong Kong it is a road that is best cycled early in the morning, as it quickly becomes heavy with traffic making the experience more fraught then most would like, but when quiet it offers some sanctuary from the bustle of the city below as you cycle away from it - often into the clouds...

Despite a few short ramps the gradient remains relatively constant, meaning you can quickly find a rhythm and a feel for whether your legs are good (or not). On days when the pedals are turning freely it is easy to build and maintain a pace that will keep you at your threshold the whole way, regularly making for a painful, leg burning last 1.5kms.

Once at the top you find yourself thrust into the tourist melee, keen to catch your breath and (having briefly taken in the views) to cycle back down and escape.

Summary

One of the longer climbs in Hong Kong, with a gradient that lets you ride at speed/threshold the whole way, making it a useful benchmark for your training. 'Testing' myself up here has left me barely able to stand and close to vomitting on a number of occassions - I always promise myself I wont do it again anytime soon.
The Strava leaderboard is pretty hotly contested that is for sure!