It has been nearly three months since I was on a bike. Consuming a full bottle of port late last night during the annual Christmas Trivial Pursuit game was probably not the best preparation for the start of a training programme, but Christmas traditions have to be respected.
The scales this morning did not make pretty reading and the blood pressure is borderline hypertensive. I’m relying on a dry January to help start to shift both figures towards something less compatible with an early death.
The plan for the next month is to get out on the bike twice each week, and supplement that with a few spells on an indoor static exercise bike, gradually increasing the miles and the amount of climbing. The trip I have planned will involve mostly involve rides of around 50-60 miles, although one day I will need to cover 115 miles. Most of the arduous climbing is during the first few days in Spain, so the training method I have used in previous years, that is, no training at all coupled with hope that I might get fit on the way, is probably not going to cut it. Last year, we struggled with the hilly bits in the middle (through the Ardennes), but both felt quite fit by the time we had finished, despite the gallons of strong Belgian beer consumed on the way. This time, and especially without the lad to pull me through, I need to be better prepared.
The Trick Cyclist 