Training Log Archive: GD44

Warm up

Les Croupiers Hills - 10 x Torrens Drive (260m each)

Hard session! My legs were still a little tight after the MBO.

1. 1:03
2. 1:02
3. 1:06
4. 1:07
5. 1:07
6. 1:06
7. 1:07
8. 1:05
9. 1:04
10. 1:04

Event: Black Mountains MBO - 2018 League Event 1 and 2017 Awards
 

Black Mountains MBO Event 1 - Gilwern

First round of the Black Mountains MBO Series which now holds 12 events. Need to do 7 to count for series and up to 8 will contribute to series score.

S>1: OK
1>2: Along canal so OK.
2>25: I took the road parallel to the river. Ifor's route choice was better which was straight up the road and in/out to 25. I also went along a private drive for a bit and did an unnecessary 250m and lost 1 minute.
25>24: WHAT A FAFF! I was overheating by this point so decided to strip my lightweight waterproof. It took ages as my forearm description holder was strapped on the outside of my coat but I'd forgotten as I tried to pull the coat inside out over my wrist which was an obvious fail. Lost 3 minutes but felt a lot longer!
24>25: Decisions decisions! I decided to go back on myself and up the road to the high road on the flanks of Mynydd Llangattock. This was longer than the direct route to 23 which was off road and steep. I originally planned to go out to 22 first then back to 23 then down the steep track. But then I noticed that there was a big drop to 22 so changed my decision to a 23 in/out then down to 22.
23>22: See above
22>4: OK but had to carry the bike over a stone stile to get to the canal towpath.
4>3: Canal towpath - OK
3>6: Canal towpath then road - OK
6>5: OK
5>Crickhowell: Many options available here. I decided to do 7>8(in/out)> 20(2 options)>21
Crickhowell>7: Steady road climb - OK
7>8: In/out on ORPA
8>20: A few different route options here. I took the shortest which was a steep bridleway through fields and lots of gates. The road option was probably twice as long and more ascent but may have been faster. I was swearing a lot on this leg for making the wrong decision.
20>21: Two route options of similar length. In hindsight I should have gone the other way as it had less ascent/descent. (Ifor took the same option as me).
21>19: Through Llanbedr so familiar leg
19>18: Went on the road and did in/out as I knew the ORPA was slow.
18>17: Two options. I went for the one without having to cross the long deep ford!
17>16: Big climb up to Sugar Loaf shoulder. Some pushing of bike here too.
16>15: On the flanks of Sugar Loaf. Boggy but enjoyable.
15>10: I descended from 15 and stopped at a junction. I decided to head to 11(25 pointer) as I thought it would be worth more than the penalty incurred if I came back about 10 mins late which would incur a 15 minute penalty. However after going for 400m and up a steep climb I decided to bail and turned around to head to 10.
10>9: OK
9>F: OK.

So all in all not a bad performance considering my lack of bike fitness.

Dropped 4 CPs from 25. Collected 430 points out of possible 500 which Ifor did get.

Finished 6th

1 - Ifor 500
2 - Mark Rowley
3 - Richard Haynes
4 - Ian Cartwright
5 - Mark Morgan 430
6 - Gary Davies 430

Nutrition
Porridge with protein powder for brekkie at about 0800
2 x CLIF Bar shot bloks packets during race (400 cals)
Carried 2 x 450ml bottles of water with Electrolyte but only drank 1

After changing the freehub, cassette and chain yesterday I definitely need to change the front chainrings as the chain slipped off a few times.

The forks were bottoming out before I started too after I services the lower legs the previous day. I had to borrow a shock pump and pumped them up higher than the recommended pressure (for my weight). Need to fix this.

Clothes
Orange MTB shoes - having no studs was a pain as I kept slipping
Socks - long waterprof socks (and I wrapped foil around them before putting on shoes: seemed to work to keep feet warm in 5 deg temps!)
Bib-tights
MDC cycling top and arm warmers
Montane featherlite gilet

Also wore buff on neck and head and waterproof coat to start but stripped of at CP 25 as was overheating. Was OK thereafter.

Carried a small ruckasck to contain above plus a fleece, phone and car key.

Les Croupiers Winter 7

Started a little faster than normal but struggled at the mid-way point.

Cool down

MDC Run - Penydarren

Not sure why my GPX didn't transfer to Connect. Wet but enjoyable run including a visit to 2 mines.