Pre-season Training
I've cooked up the usual recipe of 100+ miles every Saturday, a couple of 30/40 mile evenings with chain gangs and inserted some extra 50 mile evenings. I also used up the tail end of 2010s leave with a back to back 100 to Luton and back, and some long 70+ rides with Rich Anderson.  I resumed running in October and from November managed the 8 mile round trip to work and back. When the cold snap hit I ran to work 3 times a week.  I managed to keep riding through the whole of the subzero weeks in December by riding the same god-awful A-road circuit around Melton, Grantham, Lincoln & Ollerton.  Chain gang pace gradually increased from January, but I never did more than a couple of high heart rate interval sessions as the race season neared.

Racing
This year I decided to give racing another shot after a bad start with a crash a couple of years ago.  Racing started in March just when my health was at it's lowest ebb.  Still, managed a respectable first race at Darley Moor albeit with a futile very long 'sprint' for over the last half a lap.  I missed the rest of the Darley series as I tried to get on top of condition.  Next up was the Thorseby series, here I did terribly and was quickly dropped each time. Eventually after the France trip I was feeling a bit better and the Mallory series even got to be enjoyable.  A Saturday race with Adrian at Holmfirth kicked off the points tally with a four points sixth place over a brilliant hilly road circuit.  A further point at Mallory soon after left me needing five points to get Cat 3.  I was starting to believe I could do it.  A strange road race entirely on narrow country lanes near Grantham yielded nothing but it had a big race feel.  I missed Mallory the next week to try my hand at Curborough.  Everything went right and fell in to place.  It was super technical, but I had no problems staying with the bunch and could concentrate mainly on tactics to ensure a good placing, luckily giving me the required five points. That was a very happy drive home.  In August I went to do the Stafford Grand Prix road race.  Brilliant race and I felt in great form.  I made a jump for the breakaway with ease, even heard someone mistake me for Cat 2 by virtue of that manoeuvre. But a schoolboy error saw me without any gels etc, I won a prime before the bonk had me with a lap to go, managing to finish in the bunch.

Time Trials
In tandem with the race season TTs provided a useful training whilst being a great sport in its own right.  As ever the goal was to beat the TT supremo that is my mate Phil Rollason.  He set his 10 mile PB as early as May with a time of 23:19 A tall order, my PB stood at 25:06 After a lot of frustrating, health affected, toy throwing early rides I'd got it to 24:07 by the end of April.  Then finally the times tumbled in August. I took the club record from Richard Boot by 3 seconds and then went on to my current PB of 23:27 on the Kingston course. Close but no cigar!  8 seconds short.  So we will start 2012 with the usual phrase 'This year I'll beat you!' My new PB for the 25 miler now stands at 1:02:16

On Tour
In May this year we rode 1100 miles from Beeston to Monaco over 11 days. Yep, got home from work on the Friday and just rode off to Monaco.  I like to tour light, very light and just had a small bar bag with a few tubes, waterproof & a pair of evening shorts. 1100 miles later via a ferry over the Thames and Channel, up Ventoux and the Verdon Gorge and we were on the French Riviera, a thrilling evening ride to Monaco round the F1 circuit and over the Italian border.  Then we flew home from Nice.  It only rained over the Col de la République.

Sportive
Super hilly long rides are my Nirvana. With racing taking the focus this year, I've not been able to ride this kind of thing as regularly.  In season training for criteriums is not helped by long rides. So after I'd got the necessary points, it was back to the long hilly Peak rides - bliss!  It seemed the club had plumped for the Autumn Epic which was ideal being right at the end of the season, so it was all systems go with that being the only remaining goal.  Unfortunately after a long season the burnt out feeling crept in by the start of September and coupled with a bikeless family holiday 2 weeks before the event, things were not looking good.  A mad dash round scottish hills probably did more harm than good and it wasn't until T minus 11 days that I could really train, then the sensible taper and I wasn't feeling very confident.  Previous best in this event was 18th with 5:08 in 2009.  Good ride in great if humid weather,  rode most of it with Richard Boot, but he flagged at 65 miles in and I went on, flagging myself with the lack of recent training miles and spending too long at feed 2.  I came in with a time of 5:10 which,  this year, was enough to get 2nd place.  I'd love to win this one though so a rematch is on the cards.

2011/12 Goals

• I might just make the incidental annual 10,000 mile target by new year, but any cold snap will probably scupper that.
• Like to incorporate a few mad very long rides in the winter training. I'd like to do Skegness and back again.  I also have a double century route planned via York and the Humber Bridge.  Maybe hop on some train after work on Friday and ride home through the night and next day, not given that one much thought.  
• I'm hankering after a cross bike, to use for winter training on and off road when the icy lock down comes, but also to tour on and use with the kids.  
• Getting excited about a quick C2C ride in the Spring and trying to get under the fastest time I've seen posted of 10 hours, so the crosser will be the perfect tool for that.
• The usual tour, next year it is Lisbon to Alicante in March.  
• Then there's racing, Cat 2 being the obvious target, that will be a tall order with 40 points to get!  
• TT'ing again to beat Phil, but sub 23 would be bloody lovely!  Though next year I think I'm doing it mostly Eddie style, so no aero aids - apart from a couple on favourable evenings. 
• And again I'd like to do a sportive or two and try and get the elusive win (ToB 50miler last year doesn't count), though more racing will make it hard to fit in I think.

For some time this escarpment in Lincolnshire has fascinated me. In a
flat landscape, despite its diminutive proportions, this edge has
huge topographic importance as it strides for 60 odd miles from our
Vale of Belvoir through Grantham, Lincoln and ending just short of the
Humber at Scunthorpe. I've put together this 155 mile route for a
ride sometime.

View Larger Map

Just back from MRI knee scan feedback appointment. There is no trace
of any injury to soft tissue of muscle/ligament across any section.
These structures have a 100% clean bill of health. There is an area
of doubt in the medial meniscus shown by the MRI scan. Neither
conclusively damaged nor healthy. A further physical exam seemed to
back up that the pain mistaken for tendonitis could well be referred
pain from the joint itself. However aggressive manipulation of the
knee joint elicited no pain whatsoever and side by side comparison
yielded no discernible difference. So good that it is not tendonitis,
since pain here is a major warning sign to ease up and hence severely
hampering training this year. However concerning that it is more
untreatable, unresponsive cartilage. I'm going to view the outcome
positively. I'm 41 and done a ton of climbing & running, if I've got a
minor joint issue that doesn't stop me being active then I've done
well. All good that my new love is low impact cycling. I'm pretty
sure that I did have tendonitis over the previous 18 months, but being
proactive in sorting that out, it has done and before the MRI. I will
try and run over the winter and see how it goes, any pain is unlikely
to mean further joint damage, so it will just serve as self limiting
when running volume is too great. I've the option to revisit this
with a knee surgeon at a later date after feedback from recommencing
running. However, knee surgery is a very unlikely option due to the
high probability of making it worse. So bring on 2011.

To make the (nearly) perfect electrolyte just buy sea salt and low sodium salt from supermarket and mix together.
The 4 essential elements lost in sweat are lost in a certain ratio, the ideal electrolyte replaces these elements in this ratio.
By combining sea salt and low sodium salt in the ratio 100:20 a close approximation can be made. A lifetimes electrolyte for about £1-50 !!
The image shows all the data and assumes low sodium salt to be 66% potassium chloride 33% sodium chloride, which it always seems to be.
One problem that should be considered is the separation of the salts due to granule size. 
One easy solution is to dissolve the right amount of each and and use for example a dropper bottle.

Well the North York Moors are like the Peak, but on steroids. Very hilly and amongst those hills were 4 or 5 monsters all with long 25% gradients. Much harder than the Epic and some guy there who is part of the David Lloyd outfit reckons it's harder than the DLMega. Can't comment I haven't personally done that one.
The weather was nigh on perfect, though a little warm on the climbs. There was probably 30 miles in the middle, mainly on the moors with freshly chipped roads, they were a nightmare, and one 33% descent (I kid you not) was utterly desperate.
It is a very hard sportive, but the organisation was 2nd to none, very similar to the Epic in that respect. A caring touch that showed in every respect. I thoroughly recommend it, it's a beautiful part of England and for those sort of climbs probably hard to beat. Essential fodder for all Masochists and one of the hardest 6 or so hours I've endured.

It was Phil's 1st sportive so there was a learning curve to contend with. Plus bad guts for him, due to dodgy burger the day before, that caused a 5 minute bog stop at one feed. My form is not A1 due to injury this year, so more than the usual cramps in the closing stages. Eventually I was just eating the Nuun tablets! Phil had a stupid 39/25 as bottom gear so walked all the monument climbs, but I did try and get a loan cassette for him. So that lot has got to add up to 11 minutes.

125 riders we came 6th and 7th. 11 minutes from top spot. 17mph.
Bodes well for Epic and racing next year I reckon.

The River Derwent, this one's in Yorkshire, has it's source 1km from the coast at Filey. The river then continues west and then south for 60 miles before entering the Humber estuary via the River Ouse between Goole and Selby. Mad River!!

Went to see this house in Heage.  Nice spot, just a row of a few houses between Heage and Belper.  I've photoshopped the rear to a cream render :-) Much better.

So the cooker packs up, great.  Control went all stiff, then the oven fan mysteriously comes on this evening, seemingly for no reason.  Damned thing was overheating. Control says off, oven thinks otherwise.  What a palaver, getting to the routing of the thermostat. £45 part, I suppose it's worth the hassle. It is old but generally very reliable. Freebie from the folks from when it has kept going, with just 2 minor faults, since about 1983.

Lily is potty training. I took her, in the trailer, to highfields playground
with Charlie running behind. She had a great morning and even managed the
'big kids swing'. A flock of Geese flew over and she nonchalently states
'Geese' as she continued filling the tube with sand. Every other kid was
clamouring for ice-cream from the van, Lily doesn't know what ice cream is
:-) 3 Visits to the toilet and no accidents, best morning for her in a week
I think.
Tender or Tenterhooks? I thought tender hooks were what you hang meat on,
as in tenderising. Tenterhooks are what you stretch a canvas on and I
believe this is the correct phrase to describe psychological tension, makes
sense. Though as a child I always knew it as tender hooks.

Time in the Peak recently. Lots of anticlockwise circuits usually featuring
Crich, Beeley Moor and Winster. But today taking in the Monyash Cafe for the
first time this year. 90 miles and 9000ft of glorious sunshine, heather and
gritstone. Next to no wind and that sublime hum of an inch of rubber on
tarmac.
Took the family around potential new places to live between Ilkeston and
Belper. Gateway to the Peak! And we dropped in on the Windmill at Heage.
Not a fan of Kilburn, but Horsley, Denby, Smalley, Stanley, Brackley Gate
and Heage all get the thumbs up. Just a case of finding the right house now
over the next couple of years.

1. East across the flatlands from above Wheatcroft near Crich
2. Heage Windmill
3. Beeley Moor