Parry Cyclist

Woolly Mamil round 2 Pre-race It was damp day but not as cold as last week. When I arrive the first thing I do is sign on and check what time we start. I handed in my licence then recieve a number (57) and chip to stick on my fork, I remembered to some cutters this week to rid of the zip tie end. The lady informs me theres a 30min delay which left plenty of time to soak in the atmosphere and warm up. Whilst I set up the turbo and warm up the wife and son go and have coffee in the clubhouse, I really like this circuit for the cafe and relaxed atmosphere good for the family also shelter if the weather is shat. My ambition for this week is to finish in the pack, after my warm up off to the start line ended up at the back not ideal. The Race Like I said I started at the back and as the lady blew this whistle I tried to gain some places to get into the middle of group. The speed from the off was mad, a rider was off the front within a lap then 1st and 2nd from last week joined h...

Woolly Mamil Round 1 (cat4) Pre-Race I set myself up on the turbo to warm up a bit but it was made impossible by the weather! It was freezing cold and pissing it down, this is when I felt it was going to be a tough race. Ive never raced before and my first race would be a in a sleet shower. I kept looking at the facebook page to see if it had been cancelled but they updated saying it was still on. We set off and the drive down was snow ridden, "how can we possible race in this"!. As we got closer the snow turned to rain and I felt a bit better. When I arrived I went to sign on and seen the juniors who had just finished the race shivering with the cold. I got back to the car set the turbo up and began warming up. The Race I started on the front row but throughout the first lap I was mid pack then towards the back. I managed to hold onto the back of the group but I was having to put so much effort after the bends and on the uphills to get back on it cost m...

SATURDAY Had some good news friday, didn't have to go into work saturday! So planned to do last years winter warmer route run and ride put on. Its a lumpy route which takes you in and out of cannock chase. I offered Tom who ive met through run and ride if he fancied it, Tom rides for Newport and raced cat 4 last year only missing cat 3 by 2points. Its good to go out with people like tom so I know the sort of standard I need to be at when racing. Trouble is hes been on his honeymoon the last 2 months and not done so much on the bike. The Ride I met up with Tom at run and ride at 8.30 in the morning, weather was dry and a little on the cold side but its the best weekend we have for a while. He informed me that dave was also joining us and when he arrived we was off. Its a lumpy route but the biggest tester was coal pit lane that enters cannock chase from rugeley. To my surprise I wasn't hanging on to the back of tom or dave wheel, instead I was dropping them both with ...

Dumb Trainer v smart trainer ftp style! Tonight I did an FTP short test on my turbo trainer at home (elite mag speed). Its a cheap turbo from Halfords I brought a few years ago that Ive not really used until the last year. Ive set it up as zwift requests with the resistance set at 3 and using a speed, cadence and heart rate monitor. Zwift then estimates the power in watts using a power curve designed for each trainer. Whats your point? As per my first blog I did an FTP on a tacx flux smart trainer I got an FTP of 257w (suffering with a cold). I wanted to see what difference I could get using my turbo at home, I also wanted to set an FTP for the trainer so when I do workouts then zwift will give a more accurate zone for the trainer I was using. I'm not saying budget turbos are no good and you shouldn't use them, I just wanted to see how out of range they was at giving me my estimated power.  The Result A ridiculously hot, sweaty mess. I managed an FTP of 350...

TUESDAYS TURBO SESSION Tuesday nights I head up to run and ride the local bike shop for there workouts sessions on the turbos. This is where I carried out my FTP test last week. I've done a couple of sessions there and they hurt, really hurt! PYRAMID So Matt who runs the sessions tell us what the session consists of, basically is 1min at around 7/10 effort then a min rest. Then 1.30min and rest. And so on until you get to 3min. Then it's 5min rest and back to 3min effort dropping back down the pyramid to 1min. Now I have no idea what 7/10 for me is so I thought what sort of watts can I hold for 3min, I target 350 watts. My legs and body hated me for that decision! I got stitch halfway through and my legs was turning to mush at the end of the 3min efforts. I was happy with the fact I held my wattage around the 350 mark occasionally dropping below and sometimes (rarely) above. With the last 1min effort it was give it your all I think I averaged around 400 but the legs ...

For the next week I wont be going on the bike as much as I would like due to being on call outs for work (social housing sparky), I thought id put a post up about the bike ill be using to race. Kuota Kharma 2015 I brought this bike second hand without any wheels for £450. The wife spotted it through facebook and I said that's a bargain, the wife said why don't you buy it then. When a opportunity drops on you like that then you gotta grab the bull by his horns and go for it. I Messaged the chap selling it and offered a bit less than what he wanted and in the end settled for what I had offered. The same day me, wife and little one went a trip over to telford to pick it up. I couldn't believe how light the bike was and chuffed to bits to be taking it back home with me. Having a top wife helps to as she reminds me. Next Task was to get some wheels for it, I didn't really want to spend big as A. I didn't have a massive budget B. I didn't want to see ...

Firstly id better introduce myself, my name is Simon. Ive been cycling around 3 years and it all started due to me becoming a couch potatoe after many failed years trying to be a footballer. Im 29 (30 feb) but at the age of 20 I gave up football and all forms of exercise apart from walking to the local and back. My weight shot up to 17stone and my fitness was non existant. Along came cycling and my first outing was on a halfords special full mtb machine, little did I realise the bike weighed more than me and the first hill I went up (cannock chase) I nearly passed out and thought id be getting a lift back on a air ambulance. Ive come a long way since then, ive taken up road cycling helped by my local club (shire oak leisure riders) and im now training for a season of road racing. My weight has dropped to 81kg and my fitness is good (I think). Mid 2017 I had a go at a british cycling go-race at my local circuit curborough. I came a respectable 2nd......... out of 5 guys. It was a good e...