Transcontinental Race No. 7 - TCR7 - #TCRN07 - 2019

It was Thursday. Did you miss the "TBT"? It's this really annoying thing that people who've done fuck all recently want to remind you of something they once did.

Have I told you about this time I rode across Ameri..

people who've done fuck all recently want to remind you of something they once did.

So much this

Big discussion over at yacf: https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=110975.0 with some examples of lighter mesh tops that may still satisfy the French requirements.

PBP requirements contain the details of the French traffic law:-

"According to French traffic law, a high visibility vest MUST be worn when riding at night (EN 1150 or EN ISO 20471 certified to meet international safety standards)."

from article 9 of the regs http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/index2.php?lang=en&cat=randonnee&page=reglement

Like most things in France, it's the spirit of the law that matters, so a decent fluro/reflective top will do even if it doesn't strictly have the EN1150 / EN ISO 20471 label in it.

Did you miss the "TBT"?

Not so much I missed it more I didn't know what the fuck it meant.
Annoying; there's enough to read about stuff that is actually happening without repeating all the old stuff as well.

It probably shows a healthy aversion to twitter/insta on your part.

Agree. Unless something is relevant to a conversation you don't need to remind us you did something interesting once, that's probably why we're following you in the first place. If you have no new content, shut up so we can all get back to watching the UK shoot itself in the head.

It’s more like Russian roulette. They just keep spinning it and we keep hoping they miss. But like the bit in the Deer Hunter, it’s inevitable.

Russian

Topical.

:)

Reskin.

Chris Bennett used it on North Cape - Tarifa last year and raved about it.
https://triduffer.wordpress.com/2018/07/28/north-cape-tarifa-race/

I bought some and it arrived a few days ago. I got a rectangular sheet of it rather than the special arse-shaped patches, which was maybe a mistake, but we'll see.

I experimented with it for the first time yesterday. I had a sore patch and cut a small bit out. It felt ok but, by the time I got to my destination, the edges had curled over. So I smoothed it out, and rode to the next place I was going. By then it had moved completely off the right patch and was sticking to my leg. I replaced it for my ride home and it was then ok.

Reasonably encouraging but I'm not sure if it will stay in place in all the places I might want it. Next I'll test with a bigger bit and see if that stays in place better. Maybe it is only their shaped patches which will stay in place.

Just remembered I left the patch sticking to the tiles in the shower last night - must retrieve it before wife or cleaner come across it.

This is what I had, with the shaped patches and similarly cut DIY sizes. It can work - but depending on 'luck' it can also end up cutting you where the edges are and making more problems. I wonder if it works better with people who have normal saddles and therefore bigger contact patches vs. less well with pronged Adamo saddles where there's only a smallish contact area.

@gillies @frank9755

How is the training going at the moment?
I'm managing 3 turbo sessions a week (usually two at 5am) and the occasional ride of 50-70km.
Going to start commuting next week for some more base miles.
This week has been tough after an increase in my FTP and hitting a heavier load in the plan. Fatigue and tiredness made me grumpy this morning when leaving the house, resulting in me feeling a bit guilty about it all.

Edit: anyone else can comment on their training just Frank and Gillies are in a similar position to myself.

Drop the intensity then and ride more. You don't need to be flogging yourself near threshold.

just in case i gave the wrong impression, i'm not riding TCR this year!

all i'm training for is to get faster and to keep up with my pals on a week long bikepacking trip this year. Next year I'll see what's what.

That volume, at this time of year, is not bad at all. Adding in some longer rides at the weekend in a month or two would see you just fine imo - the rest is about being sure of your kit, comfy on your bike. Would definitely reccommend doing plenty of flexibility/conditioning stuff too. Yoga if you can.

@skinny yeah the issue being time is very much constrained.

@gillies ah I wasn't sure it was TCR but thought you were racing this year.

Yeah I certainly plan and need to add in some flexibility and off bike stuff.

Generally fairly happy with the balance and my plan it just got me this morning a bit. Have a family holiday booked late March which will be nice, I'm going to put myself on a self imposed nothing bike related embargo for it.

the issue being time is very much constrained

You're still doing more than I am.

I've been doing core strength exercises with a toddler sitting on my back.

(Nothing to do with TCR but it certainly had improved my press-up game.)

Still no need to smash the intensity to make gains.

How is the training going at the moment?

Going OK!

I've not been very busy at work which has made it more achievable. Am working from home 3-4 days per week, so I can find time for turbo at lunchtime or before nursery pickup.

I'm doing trainerroad, medium volume. That is 5 turbo sessions a week, and I've done virtually all of them. Saturday is a day off so I look after my daughter then and my wife gets a break so she is happy.

I'm also doing a session of yoga once per week.

What I'm not doing is riding outside much. I'm supposed to be allowed one long ride per month, but dns'd my one last weekend and just did turbo. Commute 1 or 2 days per week + errands into town are all the riding I do. On Monday I met a friend for a beer in the west end so that was 40km, which was OK.

I'll ride more when the weather is better, but if I get busy at work the turbo will get harder to fit in, so will just drop some sessions. Might replace some with rides to Richmond Park when weather is better.

I've done 10 years of long distance riding so reasonably relaxed about not doing much volume. But I've not done very much in the last 2.5 years (since tcr 2016), so can't completely rest on my laurels, need to settle my bike fit, etc.

My plan this year is to do nothing but VO2 intervals with my commutes as my long rides. :)

it just got me this morning a bit.

I think it's absolutely fine to drop the odd session if you don't want to / can't do it /aren't in the right frame of mind. I started one and wasn't enjoying it, had time pressure, so I just stopped and had a big lunch.

5 turbo sessions a week

shudders

My plan is a bit similar only the working from home variation

shudders

It's sweet spot stuff, not so hard.
One is a really light session and I often don't bother doing that, replace it with riding too work, etc. Two main sessions (Sunday and Wednesday)

It's not just fine, it's what you should do. If you aren't hitting numbers because you're tired from training or you have external stress impacting your performance then you should definitely back off, either by skipping sessions, reducing length or reducing intensity (depending on what the nature of the sessions are). Listen to your body as well as what coach/training plan/broscience/whatever says.

Ok, that's not so bad. I've been doing 1-2 SS sessions a week and almost nothing long which is quite unlike me but I think the crash fucked with my head as well as my bike so once I get a new bike and the weather isn't shit I'll be back out doing longer stuff.

(just call it reverse periodisation and pretend like you meant to do it that way...)

My commute is a bit longer again but it's further in town so more stop/start. I'm getting more sleep and I'm not doing threshold stuff so I can hit the most of SS turbo sessions strong and get them done solidly whereas last year when I was aiming for a fast 25mi I was doing threshold 2x20 type stuff and really suffering. Turning it down to SS helps. I probably need an FTP retest again soon. Normally I'd have cancelled/paused my TR account by now..