Turbo time

Since the dark evenings are upon us I thought I would link to some movies to help pass those lonely hours on the trainer.

Chasing Lance

Sunday in Hell

The Greatest Show on Earth

Sports Tag ID

I recently received my Sports tag bracelet. For me, the experience is similar to that of helmet. Initially I didn't train wearing a helmet but common sense eventually prevailed. Sports tag is the same; it makes good sense to have your emergency contact information easily accessible in case of a crash.

It has become part of my routine - I feel strange if I have left for a ride without wearing the bracelet.

Can you plan for the unexpected?

I have just returned home from Canada. Many months ago when I was booking my flights I was not relishing the thought of my last few weeks in Canada. I had a picture painted in my head of ice covered roads with snow piled high on the footpaths and sub zero temperatures.

The last couple of weeks in November were cold in Canada. I learnt some important lessons and adapted some strategies to deal with the cold. The wind chill can be especially bad in the sub zero temperatures; any exposed areas of flesh get a real battering. After a few rides in these conditions I was told to put vasoline all over the exposed areas before venturing out into the cold. Another trick I was shown was to fill your water bottles with hot water and place them in your jersey pockets to stop them freezing.

I returned to Ireland, bidding the cold weather goodbye, or so I hoped. I was not expecting what greeted me in Dublin - snow covered roads. When the temperature drops in Canada they are so accustomed to the adverse conditions that a protection mechanism is triggered. The system they have in place leaves the roads almost perfect and certainly in good enough condition to train on.



The lack of any coherent strategy to deal with the bad weather here has meant that since returning home last week I haven't managed to get out for a single spin on the road. At a time when many Irish riders, based abroad, are starting to crank up the duration of their sessions, I am facing the unenviable chore of logging base miles on the turbo trainer.

Track in Canada

It seems with the economic boom a distance memory in the Irish psyche and the recession touching everyone in a unique way the opportunity to build an indoor velodrome in Ireland has passed. The selection of London for the 2012 Olympic games brought an optimism in the Irish cycling community. The project made economic and political sense in the run up to the games. It seems that Irish athletes now face an unfortunate dichotomy; travel abroad in search of appropriate facilities or endure sub-standard facilities at home.

The Irish track commission have made the best of a bad situation and used limited funds available to great effect in re-surfacing the track in Sundrive Park, Crumlin. Unfortunately a minority of local youths seem intent on destruction, vandalism and theft. A series of regretable incidents has culminated in serious damage to the racing surface caused by a deliberate fire a couple of months ago.

I have been lucky enough over the past couple of months to be based near a velodrome in London, Ontario. The track is a lot more compact than traditional two hundred and fifty meter Olympic tracks, measuring a mere one hundred and twenty five meters. The angle of the banking on the track is also more severe than I have become accustomed too.

The compressed nature of the track serves to exaggerate and magnify any mistakes made on the track. A poor change in a team pursuit drill sees one trail meters behind team mates, while holding the black line for a pursuit is almost impossible with g-forces forcing one onto the red line at every corner.

Most of the work I have been doing on the track is skills based with intensity far from one hundred percent - this suits me fine considering it is still November and many months away from my first A-priority race of the season.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]