...and that I'm not just ruining my bike with all these mods...
Thursday 27 February 2020
Monday 24 February 2020
About stats
Very few people are reading this blog, but if you're one of those few you'll have noticed the weekly metrics posts that list how much training I've done in the previous seven days - distance, elevation, longest ride, that sort of thing. I'm eight weeks into training now, so here's a self-explanatory graph:
I tell myself (and you) that I had an off-week last week - for reasons that I won't go into I could only cycle on four days out of seven, and adverse weather meant that outdoor rides were short. Yes, I still clocked over 60 miles in total, but that's not actually very much, especially when you factor in that 20 of those (the longest ride bit) was indoors, on the turbo trainer. Despite all that though, I could look at this and still feel that things are going okay. Except...
Except anyone with basic Excel skills can add trend lines to graphs. Here's what the same graph looks like with trend lines to the week before LEJOG...
So what's that, about 220 miles per week, with a longest ride of 85 miles, and a weekly elevation total of about 4,400 feet? I don't think that's enough. I'm behind where I should be and I need to up my game...
Week 8 metrics
17th - 23rd February:
- Total distance: 62.5mi
- Total elevation: 1,362ft
- Longest ride: 20mi
- Time in saddle: 4h 58m
Monday 17 February 2020
Week 7 metrics
10th - 16th February:
- Total distance: 90.8mi
- Total elevation: 3,182ft
- Longest ride: 29.93mi
- Time in saddle: 7h 0m
Thursday 13 February 2020
Monday 10 February 2020
Week 6 metrics
3rd - 9th February:
- Total distance: 87.3mi
- Total elevation: 2,582ft
- Longest ride: 18.97mi
- Time in saddle: 6h 50m
Friday 7 February 2020
Shedding the pounds...
 |
| I don't have a fancy scale like this... |
...not me, the bike. When I bought it, mumbles indistinctly years ago, I was told it weighed 9.8kg. I was quite pleased with this back then, though of course I never checked. But for the sake of argument, let's say that was accurate.
In the intervening years, I've added some bits (light brackets, a Rear Guard mudguard, the fitting for my GPS) and some bits have come off (the front reflector, the toe straps on the pedals, that kind of thing). The net effect of all that is that, until recently, it still weighed about 9.8kg.
At this point I should add that I don't have some fancy schmancy bike scale like the one pictured. I just hop on the bathroom scales, take a reading, pick up my bike, take another reading, and calculate the difference. Maths, in other words.
Anyway, I've recently started looking at ways to reduce my faithful steed's weight, in advance of the challenge that lies ahead. So far, I've changed one tyre and inner tube for lighter equivalents, and swapped my bottle cage... said faithful steed is now down to 9.6kg. I have another tyre and tube to put on the back, plus I have just ordered a new wheelset that should be quite a bit lighter. On the flip-side, I've also got a new cassette waiting to go on, that might actually add a tiny bit, due to the size of the largest cog...
The upshot of all this is that I'm starting to wonder if I can trim the bike down to under 9kg? Maybe even 8.8?
Of course, anything is possible. With some of the carbon and titanium goodies available from Extralite I could probably get Old Faithful down to about 7.5kg... if money were no object. But money very definitely is an object, and an object in short supply at that. My total budget for all bike mod's is probably about £400 (and with the wheelset ordered, I'm up to about £300 and counting), so I'm going to see how low I can get without going crazy. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday 2 February 2020
Week 5 metrics
27th January - 2nd February:
- Total distance: 100.7mi
- Total elevation: 3,100ft
- Longest ride: 22.65mi
- Time in saddle: 7h 43m
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)