Snow

front of my home

If you are in Europe you know what I'm going to talk about: snow. Since wednesday, the snowing doesn't stop. The temperature is around -8 C and I has snowed around 30 cms. So, It means no training whatsoever. Impossible to run and the trainer is not yet setup. Anyway, the back is hurting still and the cold is not getting better...
But in 2 days I will be going to Brasil for the Christmas holidays and I will bring part of the gear. If I get bored I will go for a ride in a very old bike I have there. At least one ride to the Mirante dos Golfinhos I would like to do. But it will depend on the time as I'm going to stay only 2 weeks.

Mirante dos Golfinhos. My turning point on a 60 km ride. Drink a coconut and refill
the bottles with coconut water before going back. 37 C degrees for sure. The photo is mine.

Videos and climbs

I just watched on you tube a piece of the reconnaissance of the Col du Soulor. It looks very tough. It is long. Very long indeed. This is going to break a lot of people. I can see people getting all excited on the beginning, thinking it is a easy cookie. A lot of heroes passing flying by the left side and then they will hit the middle section. 14 kms on the climbing and things gets real. It jumps to 9% incline and doesn't go below 7.5% until the top. It is when we will see a lot of people walking.

My goal is to do it in one go. No walking and no stopping. And one thing that gives me the good feeling is that it looks like climbing Ventoux from Sault side. Around 8% most of the time but if you take it easy and keep your own pace, it can be done.

Take a look at the link below. This guys has a lot of other videos and tutorials. Very nice ones.

http://www.youtube.com/user/cyclefilm

He has previous of the other climbs as well. So, if you have a weak heart, don't watch. I'm not kidding. You will get too nervous and might even consider giving up. last year (my second one in cycling) I didn't manage to climb a piece of 18% at the beginning of the season but climbed just fine at the end of it... It is all about training.

Etape Reconnaissance by brits

The british cycling maganize Cycling Weekly (a very nice one) has a early recognition of the 2010 route of the Etape. I really like to read those reviews because those guys give you tips and especial warnings for things you don't even suspect when looking at the profile of the race. Things like there is a little thing that is not even a little bump in the profile and it is actually a climb of 8% and it is just after a long descend. So, legs will be a bit stiff and cold...

Below you can see the article. This is from an issue from october, so I hope I won't get in trouble :)

If you like the article I recommend buying the magazine. They always have good articles about training, equipment and of course bikes... I'm actually amazed that they have so much to talk about cycling to launch a maganize weekly!
Next: watch the DVD reconigtion...

Injury

The good news is that the injury in my back is just muscular. Nothing very serious or hernia like. The bad news is that it will take aprox 6 weeks to heal. And no exercise during that period...
To top that, a strong cold got me this week. I only hope this is the kind of downturn before the upward spiral to July...

My back is still very painfull. So much that i'm going to the doctor tomorrow (I hate doctors). The whole weekend was about laying down and enjoying the pain. Anyway, because of that I'n not doing any training this week and I'm starting to feel that I'm gaining weight. So, it all sucks.

But to pass the day with a post I decided to talk about the climbs. Actually the first one: Cold du Marie-Blanque. The one I'm actually scared. And you know why? Because if you fuckup in this one. In the first 40 kms of the race, what is going to be the rest? A nightmare for knowing that the car is getting close and you can't go fast...

So, the first lesson since I started on cycling was: never trust the average inclination. They say it is 7.5%. But that is because of the easy beginning and middle. Look at the red parts. Between km 1 and 2 you have 10.5% and the 3 kms between 6 and 9 km it stays between 10.5 and 11%. This is really a killer. 3 kms above 10% it is hard.

The good news and bad news is that I'm comparing a bit with the Cote de la Redoute in Belgium. This is a hard climb also in the middle of the 160kms race. The good on it is that I completed and I was completed wasted on the top but could recover after end complete the reace in a good time. The bad is that after it I had to climb Drolenval (another very tough one = 18%) and couldn't complete. I had to walk and lost a lot of time... 20 minutes to be exact. And if you ever did an etape, you know that is a lot of time to lost...

You can see those climbs in www.climbbybike.com A fantastic website

Last year started earlier

My training last year started in September with already rides as long as 70 kms. I can say that due to a lot of things going on on my life and a bit of lack of motivation this year training is starting later. This picture was taken during the first ride last year, around 30 km from home. After this ride I've actually done a 130 km ride in November. That I'm not repeating this year! It was too cold and miserable for a ride this long.

But I'm looking forward the rides with the team again. I miss riding with other people...

LOG: THURSDAY DEC 3RD.

Training:
30 min spinning
15 warm up
6 x stand for 1min sprint
Rest 3 min.
10 min cooldown
Zone: 2 during rest, 4 during sprints

Comments: very painfull in the lower back when seated but not so much when standing. This injury is actually worring me a lot but I think the spinnnig help to relax the muscles. Taking Ibrupofen and Voltaren gel.

Monday Running Tuesday Injury

Monday November 30^th: run 30 minutes around the house. Pace 7:20 min/km. Running is really not for me but it is better then do nothing. Leg pain.

Tuesday December 1^st: spinning for 30 minutes. Zone 5 (178bpm) picks for 2 minutes. Then went to do squats and pull a muscle in my lower back. It really hurts…