Take care
Javier Arias González
Friday, February 5, 2016
Sunday, December 20, 2015
My plan to achieve my 2016 cycling objectives
I just published my cycling goals for 2016 but agreeing with Joe Friel I think that having goals is great but goals without a plan are just dreams so I drafted this plan of how I plan to achieve my goals.
At the moment this is just a draft and some of the details are missing but the general lines and key milestones are already defined.
I have divided the year in five blocks.
January, February and March
In this block I'll be combining turbo sessions on week days following the routines proposed by Chris Carmichael in his book The Time-crunched Cyclist with one ride (4 to 6 hours) on weekends.
If everything goes well work load should be increasing week over week and I'll finish the block with a 200k (still have to decide which one) on Saturday 20th riding it as fast as possible.
A week off the bike (family holidays) from 26th of March to 2nd of April will separate this block from the second one.
April, May, June
In these three months I'll focus my training to the Quebrantahuesos (QH). The QH is a 6/7 hours non-stop ride with lots of work at threshold.
I'll start to ride outside during weekdays allocating up to 12/14 hours a week and will use the weekends for longish rides (5 to 7 hours). This block has 11 weekends:
Will also try to ride the first 6/7 hours of the longer rides (300k, 400k, 600k) replicating the effort pattern required for the QH. The rest of those rides will be just in survive mode.
June, July
I'll switch to racing strait after the QH.
Weekdays will be riding 12/14 hours trying to squeeze intervals and one or two rides to the hills. I'll have three weekends that will use to race (don't know which races yet but most likely Surrey League ones). No objective on those races beyond getting race fit.
Around 17th of July should take place L'etape de la Defonce.
August
1001 Miglia and cycling in Asturias when on holidays will get me busy all August. Won't be worrying too much about speed or training but I'll be cycling a lot.
September, October, November
After the 1001 Miglia and (cycling) holidays in Asturias (aka. climbing) I should be in fairly good form. I'll focus these three months in racing as much a possible.
Here is the list of events I plan to attend:
Javier Arias González
At the moment this is just a draft and some of the details are missing but the general lines and key milestones are already defined.
I have divided the year in five blocks.
January, February and March
In this block I'll be combining turbo sessions on week days following the routines proposed by Chris Carmichael in his book The Time-crunched Cyclist with one ride (4 to 6 hours) on weekends.
If everything goes well work load should be increasing week over week and I'll finish the block with a 200k (still have to decide which one) on Saturday 20th riding it as fast as possible.
A week off the bike (family holidays) from 26th of March to 2nd of April will separate this block from the second one.
April, May, June
In these three months I'll focus my training to the Quebrantahuesos (QH). The QH is a 6/7 hours non-stop ride with lots of work at threshold.
I'll start to ride outside during weekdays allocating up to 12/14 hours a week and will use the weekends for longish rides (5 to 7 hours). This block has 11 weekends:
- 8/9 April. A 150k ride
- 16/17 April. A 300k ride (Still have to decide which one)
- 23/24 April. A 150k ride (Oasts and Coast 300)
- 30th April. A 400k ride (Severn Across 400)
- 7/8 May. A 150k ride
- 14/15 May. A 600k ride (Bryan Chapman Memorial 600)
- 21/22 May. A 150k ride
- 28/29 May. A 150k ride
- 4/5 June. A 300k ride (Milan San Remo, QH dressed rehearsal)
- 11/12 June. A 150k ride
- 18/19 Quebrantahuesos
Will also try to ride the first 6/7 hours of the longer rides (300k, 400k, 600k) replicating the effort pattern required for the QH. The rest of those rides will be just in survive mode.
June, July
I'll switch to racing strait after the QH.
Weekdays will be riding 12/14 hours trying to squeeze intervals and one or two rides to the hills. I'll have three weekends that will use to race (don't know which races yet but most likely Surrey League ones). No objective on those races beyond getting race fit.
Around 17th of July should take place L'etape de la Defonce.
August
1001 Miglia and cycling in Asturias when on holidays will get me busy all August. Won't be worrying too much about speed or training but I'll be cycling a lot.
September, October, November
After the 1001 Miglia and (cycling) holidays in Asturias (aka. climbing) I should be in fairly good form. I'll focus these three months in racing as much a possible.
/********************************************/
Here is the list of events I plan to attend:
- Saturday 12th of March. The Horsepower 200 (I've never ridden this one, looking forward for the experience )
- Saturday 9th of April. Yr Elenydd @ 30 (307km 4950m, another new ride for me. The amount of climb is what got me; lots of climbing, lots of fun)
- Saturday 23rd April. Oasts and Coasts 300 (300km 3300m one I had to bail last year, but will be back to claim it this year)
- Saturday 30th of April. Severn Across 400 (407km 3500m I also had to bail it last year so a must this year)
- Saturday 14th of May. Brian Chapman Memorial 600 (600km 7500m I had to bail it last year but even if I had ridden it last year I'd always be back to Wales and this ride. I love it)
- Sunday 5th of June. Milan San Remo
- Saturday 18th of June. Quebrantahuesos
- 25/26 June. Race TBD
- 2/3 July. Race TBD
- 9/10 July. Race TBD
- Around 17th of July. L'etape de la Defonce
- 23/24 July. Race TBD
- 30/31 July. Race TBD
- Saturday 6th August. Cogidubnus CC (Cheese and cake double century)
- Tuesday 16th to 22nd of August. 1001 Miglia
- 3/4 September. Race
- 10/11 September. Rowlands RAAAmble 200 first Audax organized by the Kingston Wheelers. I'm helping to organize so if my duties do not include riding it I'll try to race on the 10th.
- 17/18 September. Race TBD
- 24/25 September. Race TBD
- Saturday 1st October. Kingston Wheelers Championships
- 8/9 October. Race TBD
- 15/16 October. Race TBD
- 22/23 October. Race TBD
- 29/30 October. Race TBD
- 5/6 November. Race TBD
Javier Arias González
My cycling goals for 2016
Main objective
Finishing the Quebrantahuesos in less than 6h 30m (my best time is 6:44:56). Stretch goal would be finishing in less than 6:18:29, Ed's 2013 time and, to my knowledge, the fastest time by a Kingston Wheeler. This goal is part of the bigger goal of beating Miguel Indurain's time (6:07:05) by 2019. I might even shave my legs for this.
Second objective
Enjoying the 1001 Miglia, 1,600km with 16,000m of climbing in less than 135 hours in the middle of the Italian summer. Sto già praticando il mio italiano.
Third objective
Get back to racing. I want to take part and be competitive in my first stage race. I was suggested the L'etape de la Defonce is a great event so I'll give it a go. I also want to race the autumn and ideally get to cat 2. In any case as far as I don't break any bone I'll be happy just racing.
Fourth objective
Riding a super randonneur series, that is a 200k (20th of March event TBD), a 300k (16th of April TBD), a 400k (30th April, Severn Across) and a 600k (14th May, Bryan Chapman Memorial). Hair in legs and face and sandals recommended to be completely successful.
Fifth objective
Give time trialling a go. I'll start with a club 10 and will see from there. I would like to have a time objective but honestly I have no idea what time target would make sense for me on a road bike. Happy to take suggestions.
Now, agreeing with Joe Friel I think that having goals for 2016 is great but goals without a plan are just dreams so I drafted a plan explaining how I'll try to achieve these goals. If you are interested you can find it here.
ps. everything going well I should finish 2016 in E90 (see here if you don't know what I'm talking about).
Take care
Javier Arias González
Finishing the Quebrantahuesos in less than 6h 30m (my best time is 6:44:56). Stretch goal would be finishing in less than 6:18:29, Ed's 2013 time and, to my knowledge, the fastest time by a Kingston Wheeler. This goal is part of the bigger goal of beating Miguel Indurain's time (6:07:05) by 2019. I might even shave my legs for this.
Second objective
Enjoying the 1001 Miglia, 1,600km with 16,000m of climbing in less than 135 hours in the middle of the Italian summer. Sto già praticando il mio italiano.
Third objective
Get back to racing. I want to take part and be competitive in my first stage race. I was suggested the L'etape de la Defonce is a great event so I'll give it a go. I also want to race the autumn and ideally get to cat 2. In any case as far as I don't break any bone I'll be happy just racing.
Fourth objective
Riding a super randonneur series, that is a 200k (20th of March event TBD), a 300k (16th of April TBD), a 400k (30th April, Severn Across) and a 600k (14th May, Bryan Chapman Memorial). Hair in legs and face and sandals recommended to be completely successful.
Fifth objective
Give time trialling a go. I'll start with a club 10 and will see from there. I would like to have a time objective but honestly I have no idea what time target would make sense for me on a road bike. Happy to take suggestions.
Now, agreeing with Joe Friel I think that having goals for 2016 is great but goals without a plan are just dreams so I drafted a plan explaining how I'll try to achieve these goals. If you are interested you can find it here.
ps. everything going well I should finish 2016 in E90 (see here if you don't know what I'm talking about).
Take care
Javier Arias González
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Acabo de descubrir lo que el número Eddington y la he jodido
Una advertencia. El número Eddington es un concepto adictivo. Si eres un ciclista (y/o corres y/o nadas) que guarda la distancia de sus salidas, especialmente si eres un ciclista aficionado a las largas distancias, descubrir qué es el número Eddington tiene el efecto de hacer que quieras salir a rodar más veces y por más kilómetros. Probablemente ya estás suficientemente enganchado al ciclismo por lo que siéntete libre de dejar de leer ahora mismo y sigue viviendo en la ignorancia... Estás advertido.
"Arthur Stanley Eddington OM (28 de diciembre de 1882 en Kendal-22 de noviembre de 1944 en Cambridge) fue un astrofísico británico muy conocido en la primera mitad del siglo XX. El límite de Eddington, el límite natural de la luminosidad que puede ser radiada por acreción a un objeto compacto, de él toma su nombre."Pero lo que es más importante es que Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington era un ciclista aficionado y es el creador del número Eddington. Traduzco de la versión en inglés de la wikipedia:
"El número Eddington en el contexto del ciclismo se define como el número máximo de E de tal manera que el ciclista ha completado un salida de E millas en E días. Por ejemplo, un número de Eddington de 70 implicaría que el ciclista ha completado una salida de por lo menos 70 millas en un día en 70 ocasiones.[...] El número E del propio Eddington era 84." [El número Eddington se expresa en millas, es probablemente la única ocasión en que está justificado usar millas y ciclismo en el mismo contexto]Suena tonto, lo se, pero, ¿Sabes qué es lo que hace un ciclista data geek que tiene registradas todas sus salidas cuando entiende el concepto?
¿Sabes que pasa ahora? Pues obviamente que quiero hacer crecer ese número. Y eso me ha hecho entrar en una espiral de querer salir a montar en bici con más frecuencia y para rodar más distancia. Te cuento como ha funcionado en mi caso.
Da la casualidad que he rodado 75 veces al menos 76 millas (122km). Es decir, que si salgo mañana y hago una ruta de 122km pasaré a ser un ciclista E76. Fácil.
¿Cómo llego a E77? En mis registros veo que he rodado 73 veces al menos 77 millas (124km). Pero un momento. Una única salida de 76 millas (122km) me haría E76 pero esa salida no contaría para hacerme E77 (sólo las salidas de más de 77 millas cuentan). Esto quiere decir que si quiero llegar a E77 no tiene ningún sentido hacer una salida de nada más 76 millas (122km). Debería hacerla de 77 millas (124km), eso me haría E76 y la salida contaría para hacer E77.
¿Pero que sentido tiene ser E77? 77 es un número anodino. ¿Cual es el siguiente número que quede bien?
E100. Oh si, E100 suena muy bien. Significa que has rodado al menos 100 millas (161km) 100 veces. Eso ya tiene mucho mejor pinta. ¿cuanto me falta?
Pues resulta que he rodado en 52 ocasiones más de 100 millas (161km). Esto quiere decir que E100 es un objetivo realizable. Saliendo como hasta ahora calculo que seré E100 en unos 5 años. ¡¡Me mola, me mola!!
Y ahora viene la parte en la que todo se va al carajo. ¿Cual es el máximo E al que podría llegar?
Tengo 40 salidas de más de 125 millas (201km), calculo que en 10 años podría llegar a ser E125. Pero la casualidad hace que tenga 39 salidas de más de 130 millas (209km) lo que quiere decir que si estoy haciendo una salida de unos 200 kilómetros debería extenderla hasta los 209 para que así pueda llegar a E130.
¿Sabes que?
Que tengo 30 salidas de más de 150 millas (241km). por lo que por qué pararse en los 209km. Lo que debería hacer es seguir hasta los 241 y así llegar a un E150... Estoy jodido.
Ahora, que has llegado hasta aquí. ¿Quieres saber cual es tu número Edington?
¿Estás seguro?
Pues bien, tu también estás jodido. Aquí tienes una hoja de cálculo que hará el calculo y el gráfico por ti. Sólo tienes que sacarte una copia, pegar las distancias de tus salidas en la columna B y ya está (usa la pestaña que se llama kilómetros).
Otros recursos (en inglés):
- Los números Eddington más grandes registrados. Realmente impresionantes, sobre todo cuando tienes en cuenta que han llegado a esos números en menos de un año.
- El thread sobre el tema del foro yacf.co.uk. La gente publica sus números E y también hay discusiones sobre como deben contabilizarse eventos multi día (pe. PBP)
- canini.me/eddington una aplicación que calcula tu número Eddington a partir de tus datos en Strava (yo no la he probado)
- swinny.net/Strava/-4691-My-Strava-Eddington-Number Otra aplicación de Strava para calcular tu número E (tampoco la he probado)
A cuidarse
Javier Arias González
I just discovered what an Eddington number is and I am screwed
Edit If you want to know what you Eddington number is just go to https://swinny.net/Strava/-4691-My-Strava-Eddington-Number and follow the instructions.
A warning. Eddington number is an addictive concept. If you are a cyclist (and/or runner and/or swimmer) that tracks the distance of all your rides, especially if you are a long distance cyclist, discovering what the Eddington number is has the effect of making you to want to ride more and more, longer and longer. You probably are already too engaged to cycling so feel free to stop reading now and keep living in the ignorance... You've been warned.
From wikipedia:
That's is right, I'm a E75 cyclist. Nice round number.
Do you know what happens next? Of course I want to make that number bigger. And that made me enter in a spiral of wanting to ride more and longer. Let me show you how it worked.
It just happens that have ridden 75 times at least 76 miles so if I go out and ride just 76 miles I'll be E76. Easy. How do I get to E77?
In my records I see I have ridden 73 times at least 77 miles. A ride of 76 miles would make me E76 but would not count towards making me E77 (only rides with more that 77 miles count). So if I want to move to E77 there is no point in riding just 76 miles. I should go out and ride 77 miles, that would make me E76 and the ride would count towards E77.
But what is the point of being E77? 77 is kind of a pointless number, what is the next nice looking number?
E100. Oh yes, E100 sounds really cool. It means you have ridden at least 100 miles 100 times. That is something. How far am I?
Well it turns out I have ridden 52 times at least 100 miles. "This is interesting", I thought. E100 is an achievable target, I reckon riding as the last years I could be E100 in about 5 years time. Nice!
Now comes the tricky part, if riding as usual I'll get to E100 in 5 years what would be the maximal Eddington number I could reach?
I have 40 rides with more than 125 miles, I reckon in 10 years I could get there (E125). But you know what happen? I have 39 rides with more than 130 miles! So if I'm riding anything near 125 miles I should not stop there, I should keep riding until the 130 mark to make it count towards a lifelong E130.
But it does not stop there...
I have 30 rides with more than 150 miles so why stopping at the 130 and not pushing it to 150. E150 sounds much much better... I'm screwed.
Now that you got here. Do you really want to know your Eddington number?.
Really?
Ok, then, you are also screwed. Here you have a spreadsheet that will do all the work for you, you just have to make your own copy of the spreadsheet and post your rides in column B. Note there are two sheets, one if you have your records in miles and another one if you have your records in kilometres. E is given in miles (probably the only cycling metric that should be given in miles) but the sheet will do the calculations for you.
Other resources:
A warning. Eddington number is an addictive concept. If you are a cyclist (and/or runner and/or swimmer) that tracks the distance of all your rides, especially if you are a long distance cyclist, discovering what the Eddington number is has the effect of making you to want to ride more and more, longer and longer. You probably are already too engaged to cycling so feel free to stop reading now and keep living in the ignorance... You've been warned.
From wikipedia:
"Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, was an English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician of the early 20th century who did his greatest work in astrophysics. He was also a philosopher of science and a popularizer of science. The Eddington limit, the natural limit to the luminosity of stars, or the radiation generated by accretion onto a compact object, is named in his honour."More importantly Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington was a keen cyclist and he is the creator of the Eddignton number. Again from wikipedia:
"The Eddington number in the context of cycling is defined as the maximum number E such that the cyclist has cycled E miles on E days. For example, an Eddington number of 70 would imply that the cyclist has cycled at least 70 miles in a day on 70 occasions. Achieving a high Eddington number is difficult since moving from, say, 70 to 75 will probably require more than five new long distance rides since any rides shorter than 75 miles will no longer be included in the reckoning. Eddington's own E-number was 84."It sounds silly, I know. But do you know what a data geek cyclist that has recorded all his rides does when learns about this concept?
Do you know what happens next? Of course I want to make that number bigger. And that made me enter in a spiral of wanting to ride more and longer. Let me show you how it worked.
It just happens that have ridden 75 times at least 76 miles so if I go out and ride just 76 miles I'll be E76. Easy. How do I get to E77?
In my records I see I have ridden 73 times at least 77 miles. A ride of 76 miles would make me E76 but would not count towards making me E77 (only rides with more that 77 miles count). So if I want to move to E77 there is no point in riding just 76 miles. I should go out and ride 77 miles, that would make me E76 and the ride would count towards E77.
But what is the point of being E77? 77 is kind of a pointless number, what is the next nice looking number?
E100. Oh yes, E100 sounds really cool. It means you have ridden at least 100 miles 100 times. That is something. How far am I?
Well it turns out I have ridden 52 times at least 100 miles. "This is interesting", I thought. E100 is an achievable target, I reckon riding as the last years I could be E100 in about 5 years time. Nice!
Now comes the tricky part, if riding as usual I'll get to E100 in 5 years what would be the maximal Eddington number I could reach?
I have 40 rides with more than 125 miles, I reckon in 10 years I could get there (E125). But you know what happen? I have 39 rides with more than 130 miles! So if I'm riding anything near 125 miles I should not stop there, I should keep riding until the 130 mark to make it count towards a lifelong E130.
But it does not stop there...
I have 30 rides with more than 150 miles so why stopping at the 130 and not pushing it to 150. E150 sounds much much better... I'm screwed.
Now that you got here. Do you really want to know your Eddington number?.
Really?
Ok, then, you are also screwed. Here you have a spreadsheet that will do all the work for you, you just have to make your own copy of the spreadsheet and post your rides in column B. Note there are two sheets, one if you have your records in miles and another one if you have your records in kilometres. E is given in miles (probably the only cycling metric that should be given in miles) but the sheet will do the calculations for you.
Other resources:
- The biggest Eddington numbers recorded. Really impressive when you consider they reached those numbers in less than a year.
- yacf.co.uk forum thread about the Eddington number. Big numbers mentioned in this thread and discussions on how multi day events (ie. PBP) should be counted.
- canini.me/eddington an application to calculate your Eddington number from Strava (I haven't try it)
- swinny.net/Strava/-4691-My-Strava-Eddington-Number another Strava app to calculate your E number (haven't tried it either)
Take care
Javier Arias González
Saturday, November 7, 2015
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
This is how I feel about my 2014/2015 cycling season.
It was the worst of the times because a crash early November 2014 with a broken collarbone and a crash mid March broking my left femur screwed a season that finished with almost 30% less kms ridden than the previous one (9,986 vs 14,157) and my CTL graph looking like a roller coster. A proper cycling nightmare.
But it was also the best of the times because I'm pretty happy with how I managed all the inconveniences and kept myself focused in my main objective, enjoying PBP.
I'm pretty sure that if I managed to keep the same focus this year (and if I keep myself on the bike) 2015/2016 will be a great season. Already looking forward to it.
Take care
Javier Arias González
It was the worst of the times because a crash early November 2014 with a broken collarbone and a crash mid March broking my left femur screwed a season that finished with almost 30% less kms ridden than the previous one (9,986 vs 14,157) and my CTL graph looking like a roller coster. A proper cycling nightmare.
 |
| My 2014/2015 CTL |
I'm pretty sure that if I managed to keep the same focus this year (and if I keep myself on the bike) 2015/2016 will be a great season. Already looking forward to it.
Take care
Javier Arias González
Thursday, September 24, 2015
¿Qué llevo en mi bolsa del sillín?
¿Qué pasa "biciosos"?
Para muchos hay un debate sobre si llevar o no una bolsa de sillín cuando montan en bici. En mi caso ese debase se solventó muy rápido, yo siempre llevo una bolsa en el sillín, no me importa si eso no es "pro", lo que a mi me importa es lo práctico que me resulta.
Una ves que decides que vas a llevar bolsa en el sillín el siguiente paso es decidir que bolsa vas a usar y que vas a llevar en ella. Esta es mi configuración actual.
La bolsa es una Topeak Strap Aero Wedge Pack pequeña. Esta es la bolsa más pequeña de la familia pero es suficientemente grande para llevar todo lo que necesito. Me gusta especialmente la tira que tiene que te permite enganchar una luz trasera.
En la bolsa llevo:
A cuidarse
Javier Arias González
Para muchos hay un debate sobre si llevar o no una bolsa de sillín cuando montan en bici. En mi caso ese debase se solventó muy rápido, yo siempre llevo una bolsa en el sillín, no me importa si eso no es "pro", lo que a mi me importa es lo práctico que me resulta.
Una ves que decides que vas a llevar bolsa en el sillín el siguiente paso es decidir que bolsa vas a usar y que vas a llevar en ella. Esta es mi configuración actual.
La bolsa es una Topeak Strap Aero Wedge Pack pequeña. Esta es la bolsa más pequeña de la familia pero es suficientemente grande para llevar todo lo que necesito. Me gusta especialmente la tira que tiene que te permite enganchar una luz trasera.
En la bolsa llevo:
- Una bomba Bontrager Air Rush Road Mini Pump/CO2 Inflator. Me encanta esta bomba. Es pequeña y ligera; puede usarse de manera estándar o con botellas de CO2. Resulta muy práctico.
- 2 botellas de CO2. Venían con la bomba y los uso para hinchar la rueda si quiero hacerlo rápido (tengo prisa o si el tiempo no es demasiado bueno) y/o que la rueda tenga buena presión.
- 2 Cámaras Continental Race 28 (700c) Supersonic. Estas cámaras son muy ligeras y se empaquetan ocupando muy poco volumen. Yo meto cada cámara en una bolsa de plástico individual para que estén más protegidas del agua.
- 2 desmontables Park Tool Tyre Levers y 1 paquete de parches autoadesivos El paquete original traía 3 desmontables, pero con 2 yo tengo suficiente para desmontar las cubiertas de todas mis ruedas. Los parches autoadesivos ocupan tan poco y son tan ligeros que los llevo para el caso de que tenga más de dos pinchazos en una salida, no es que pase con mucha frecuencia, pero si que me ha pasado.
- Una mult-iherramienta Topeak Mini 18+ Me encanta, es pequeña, no muy pesada y tiene todas las herramientas que necesito, incluido un tronchacadenas (que funciona con cadenas Shimano para 11 velocidades)
A cuidarse
Javier Arias González
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