Training Log Archive: Leanimal

I went out in the heat of the day while Phatty tested out the "napability" of the new couch. He is still asleep now that I am home so I would say that it passes the test. Unlike our old chair that I reupholstered in off-white I decided that our family would be better off with a dark grey couch. The funny thing was that I made Weeanimal take her shoes off to jump around on the couch and her feet are at least ten times dirtier. Serves me right.

Thank goodness for trail running and the fact that the trail is at the end of the street. I almost melted getting there. Nice and cool and breezy on the trails. My legs took about 20 minutes to warm up but felt great after that. Both of my ankles are a bit sore but I think it's from the position of my cleats for my road bike so I might have to adjust those.

2 more sleeps until CoachLD and Goose get here!

C • Adventure Feet 1

Another splendid day for a road ride. I figured since I made it up Col de la Forclaz from the far side that I could do it from this side. It was easier for sure but definitely not easy. I descended over the back and thought I might wear out my brake pads on the descent. I am starting to feel more comfortable in the turns but am only comfortable going so fast around tight corners.

Once at the bottom I followed the bike path toward Albertville but turned up to follow a valley, over col de mauvais (or something like that ) and down into Thones. This was a much more civilized climb but there were some tight corners on a cliff edge that had obviously posed some problems for a few young men. I saw three gravestones on a tight corner with ages 18, 22 and 26.

A nice cruisy descent into Thones where I had a Sammy and a tartelette citron before heading home. Thankfully there is a nice descent back to Alex because I had a pretty strong headwind and I was getting tired. Back up through Col de Bluffy and then down into Annecy-le-Vieux. Sweet day out.

C • talk about your destination rides! 3

This was more of a "ride my bike and figure out what I have to tell them when I take it in" ride. I cleaned the heck out of it last night and that made a difference but it still needs quite a bit of work. One thing that I think I figured out on this ride is that I have to replace my stem. I was in a much more aerodynamic position on my last mountain bike and have been experiencing right sided low back pain on this one. When I crouched into a more aero position the pain went away. New stem on the way.

I also noticed thankfully that I have more power in my legs this year. No surprising after living here for a year but its nice to know since I was pretty depressed riding this bike for the past couple of years. I did an endo about 5 mintutes after getting on the trails and was so pissed since I just cleaned the bike. The puddle was MUCH deeper than I thought it would be. Felt good to be on the trails again but I left them for the road to climb to Col des Contrabandiers. The trails are far too technical for me to climb on my bike, I have a hard enough time running them. Get the bike back on Tuesday so I will be on the road again until then.

In truth I have no idea how long it took but damn it was hard. I decided to try Col de la Forclaz despite not having changed my gear set up yet. I thought since I see so many people looking haggard by climbing from the side closest to us that I would go around the back and climb via Montmin. Mistake. It has to be steeper. Mainly because it is a shorter distance to the top. It's a 9.1km climb from 485m to 1181m with a average grade of 7%. I met some Brits at the top who came us just behind me and they said there was a reading on one of their bikes that said 17% at one time. I don't think so but another guys said 14%. Needless to say I was out of the saddle A LOT on the way up. I hung in there until my right side low back was so sore I had to stop to stretch it for about a minute. That was it for stopping but I am pretty sure my cadence was 1 rpm at some points.

Time to get the bike sorted because despite the pain this was a gorgeous ride. Sunny and warm today with crystal clear views of mountains as far as the eye could see including the Tournette that was looming overhead on the way up.

Nice lazy descent and then a smaller climb into Bluffy before heading to the Chevalier for a sammy by the lake. I am a spoiled brat and I know it but I did get stung by a bee right off the bat just to keep me grounded.

The best part was that I wore purple and white bike shorts, because all of my other comfy ones are dirty, and no-one batted and eye.....and they are super comfortable. Uh oh, I may have to be seen in public in these again.

C • white 12

C • Spoiled 2

Definitely more than a 1 at most points but this was a hiking day with Weeanimal on my back as Phatty did L'Etape du Tour. We walk/ran down to the Paquier to see him start just in time. It was incredible the number of cyclists down there. They were all corralled into 13 sections with 1000 riders in each. I think they started 15 minutes apart. The entire route was closed to cars. It was a great atmosphere, one that I wish I was a part of but it was great to see Phatty enjoying it.

We avoided trying to drive to any points to watch so Marion and I and the kids hiked the trails over to Veryier du Lac to swim at the beach there. It was a perfect summer day so the place was jammed. After some swimming and lunch we headed back to meet the boys at home. They were both happy with their result and agreed that it was an incredible event. Another friend from work had the unfortunate experience of being hit by a car on they way to the start at 6:30 am. He didn't break anything but was shaken up and the car took off. No witnesses. Terrible that he couldn't participate.

We went back down to the lake for a swim again at Plage d'Albigny and I have never seen so many people in one place at one time. Craziness! Boobs and speedos everywhere!