Signing off for the year and looking forward to the next

It's 9am and I've been up since 6 desperately trying to avoid the turbo , December has been abit of a random month to be honest .

Came into it feeling strong , very confident , I had been training well and making the transition from what I thought was the correct training and path last year to knowing I'm bloody working for it and gains are there to see and to be fair to myself I feel I have deserved them as I've really stepped up , I got over the blip I spoke about in the last blog and I'm making small improvements week buy week in myself my diet ,my core training and all the details in between , leaving the training side in matts capable hands .

My power tap wheel which has been pretty bullet proof for ages has given up on my so its been shipped of for a service which left me with a hr monitor and the power on the taco flow turbo , knowing from previous sessions on the turbo it reads about 15-25w higher than my power tap so at least I had something to work with , but hating the turbo I went down the hr route on the road .

Hr is something I've not really used tbh so I set up training to the hr zones to match the power zones.

All seemed pretty good , efforts felt roughly the same and it helped with keeping me in the zones as I noticed as soon as I shut of the power my hr dropped very fast , then it was a struggle  to not go really hard to get it back up straight away then drop off to get it back down , 

The problem came when I started getting tired later into the block , and this is why I think hr is a great additional tool but not something you should blindly follow .

I was getting fatigued and as the hr dropped I pushed harder , to the point of destroying myself blindly looking at the numbers even though I knew the effort was way beyond what it should be .

I feel like I'm saying this a lot and it seems to be a very recouring theme but Matt saved the day again, back it all back down and reevaluated everything to get me back on track, the session on the turbo showed I was about 10-15 bpm down on the zone for the power effort so a big hit going 10-15bpm harder than you should be for a few weeks , try it I promise you won't last long :) 

I've got a four day rest over Xmas which is great and it really splits it all up , the new bike science Bristol store will soon be open so we can really get the testing back on track , I've got two new completely different bikes to sort out , I need to find a front wheel for racing  , got a photo shoot coming up for a local photographer who wants to do some cycling shots , get the sponsor decals done for the bike and helmet ,and the hard work of getting weight down and getting race ready really starts in the new year .

Really exciting times ahead and everything is moving so fast but I'm getting my head down and pushing hard .

Need to say a few thank yous before I sign off for Xmas , most people know who they are and I try to show my appreciation through the year .

Firstly Matt bottrill , had great faith in me before I did , gives me the focus and belief that you can do anything if you work for it and want it enough , would be miles behind where I am without him , a coach is nothing without total trust , and I feel very lucky to call Matt a friend and mentor 

Andy sexton from bike science , been a great help with the bike fits and helping me to find the kit that works best for me , not many sponsors support you to find the best kit for you even if it's not their own 

Blake and nopinz for the kind supply of the great kit to test , really lucky to get a chance to try some real trail blazing kit 

Larry at velouk, been very kind to include the blog on webpage 3000 views later and going strong , and it's great to see they support the little guys in the sport 

And of course my family , who put up with a grumpy ,super focused ,training and racing blinkered ass for most of the year but still manage to support me .

If I've missed anyone I'm sorry but I really appreciate the faith people have shown in me and given me encouragement along the way .will pay it all back 100% on the bike ;) 

Here's to a fast 2015 #smashit 

like saying goodbye to a old friend and the mental battle of winter

Ok bit of a dramatic title but the P4 has gone , what a great bike its been and will continue to be for the new owner .
things are changing so fast its hard to keep up .
I was looking yesterday at some of my racing photos and cant believe how much everything has changed , for example the photo at the top of the blog , the only items to servive from last year to 2015 will be the sram R2C shifters and the smart aero overshoes , and the speedplay pedals , everything else from bike all the way down to the wheel skewers are different , as well as skinsuit and helmet and even shoes have all been looked at and changed .
i was going to do a list of what we ran then to what im running now and a reason why but that might give alittle to much away , but its great to look at the details and see where you can improve .
really hope to get a wind tunnel session in next year and get some solid data on where everything is at and back up on what Andy and i will aero test as the weeks go on .
Bike science are just in the middle of a move to a swanky new store at the top of whiteladies road in bristol so testing has slowed down a touch understandably ,but its not all about the testing of everything , ive got to make sure im doing everything right and putting the effort in to make it all happen , no point in getting the kit spot on and the man riding it is not up to scratch .
I should imagine like most i hit abit of a wall as the wether started turning from warmer than it should be and plenty of sun , to either rain or cold and dark when you know the sessions are going to be that much harder . this was when i realised how much difference having the support of a coach like matt was really going o make the difference to having that seed in the back of your mind telling you that you could possibly do it but do you want it bad enough , and knowing in your head its going to happen and nothing can stop you .
i had a few sessions when i was feeling tired and almost looking for a reason to cut it short and justify it , i was leaving for sessions 30 mins later than normal as i was pottering around at home not chomping at the bit to get out there and smash it .
This is somewhere i had been before in my first year racing and it seemed to run a pattern of failed sessions and under porformed rides which just leads to finding it harder to get out there and do it , which when your a very highly motivated person who puts everything into everything you do ,is a very slippery path and usually leads to me being a grumpy ass then getting ill and missing a week on the bike .
i messaged matt and got the reply of lets back it off its november we dont want to kill you off , which is pretty much the spot on answer, but i wasnt worn down from the training the battle was all in my head . and this was the eureka moment , i had to question how bad did i want it , this was when i looked at what we had already achieved , what we had planned and the faith people had put in me and there belief in what could be achieved .
my thought then wasnt to even question if i wanted it , more of " lets back it off a tad " was "maybe you havent got what it takes " in my warped way of thinking .
and that was that instant flip from struggling to right back to top of my game and motivation back to maximum .people say you dont need a coach you can find alot of training plans on thew internet , i say its the whole package not just the plan you get on paper , i even managed to do some tough sessions on the turbo which is my ultimate nemisis and the place that sucks motivation straight out of me , holding my position for the full period which is something ive never done .
in the words of the great arnie " the body is important but the mind is more so " and on that note all thats left to say is "i'll be back !!"