Just another Friday…..

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At FW accounting we have a leased line for access to the internet. I’m not a “techie” but I’m told that this means we have a super-fast connection and don’t have to rely on the standard BT lines for access. Our phone lines also work over the leased line, meaning we can make & receive a large volume of calls. Which is absolutely fantastic when it works, which is 99% of the time.

Today was the 1% that you hope you never have to deal with. However, it taught us a number of lessons, almost all of them positive. Here are the details.

We outsource our IT management to Aberdeen-based Indigo. They have a system setup to notify them if the line ever goes down. This happened at 1.03am. They obviously couldn’t phone or email us to let us know, so what did they do? They sent me a tweet!

By 7am both Indigo and Arrowdawn, who support our phone system, were on the case and had people on site. By the time I arrived at the office, they were beavering away.

We couldn’t send emails out, and people emailing us wouldn’t know we weren’t getting their emails. Anyone calling our main number was getting a message telling them that our number was unobtainable. Not good.

This was when the professionals we work with really earned their corn. First of all AJ from Indigo and the guys from Arrowdawn managed to put together a work around that diverted our 0845 number to a separate line outwith the leased line. People calling that number could now get through. AJ also managed to divert emails via this same ADSL line, so although it was slow, emails started to filter through sporadically.

Then the FW team got on the case. Myself and Michelle got busy on social media, letting people know via twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn & Aberdeen Business Network what was happening. Meanwhile the wonderful Julie Mitchell-Mehta from Debut Marketing sent a communication to all of our clients via MailChimp to let them know.

Emma De Silva, one of our reception team, was coolness personified, liaising between our leased line provider, Indigo & Arrowdawn, and letting everyone internally know what was happening. Turned out the problem was at Cable & Wireless, the leased line provider, who had a major server failure. So this was happening to lots of companies across the UK.

By early afternoon the line was back up & running again. AJ & Arrowdawn were running lots of tests to make sure that it was working 100% before switching everything back. By 1pm we were back to normal.

Emma DS suggested emailing our clients again to let them know, which Julie was able to do for us. Michelle & I updated our social media channels.

It’s now almost 8pm and I’m reflecting on the day. I’m so proud of my team! No-one panicked. No-one got stressed. We just managed the situation. We followed the plan, and it worked. It was bloody impressive!

Changing Seasons

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As winters go, it’s been a mild one. Nothing more than a light dusting of snow a couple of times. It’s been cold, but nothing like last year’s -20c.

For the last five months we’ve ridden on winter bikes, designed to cope with the harsh road conditions of a Scottish winter. Typically these bikes are Aluminium, heavier than the carbon bikes we race on, and kitted out with mudguards. They’re good for pounding out the miles, and stay solid in the crosswinds that we inevitably endure.

But by the middle of February we’re itching to get out on our race bikes. I started building mine up at the start of January. Just an hour here & there, it brought the promise of Spring, and the joy of racing. Somehow replacing cables, chains, bartape brought us closer.

At the start of this week, I checked the forecast (as I always do!) for the weekend. It looked good. A dry week would mean dry roads, and the temperature was forecast to be around 10c. Perfect conditions to get the race bike out!

So, five months after it last graced the tarmac, my race bike got back on the road today.

Race Bike 2012 Style

For me, the first day of the year out on the race bike is possibly the best cycling day of the year. After a winter of riding the heavy bike, it feels amazing to be on a featherlight carbon rig. if you’re like me, then everything’s new – new brake & gear cables, new bartape, and for me this season new wheels. It’s like a new bike.

Today was also the first day this year I’ve been out without the full winter gear on. Instead it was shorts & leggings, a long sleeved jersey and a Gilet. I’ve even put my racing helmet & shoes on. It feels good and gets the mind ready for the season ahead.

From here, the training intensifies, my first race is only 3 weeks away, although the first big objective of the season doesn’t come until the end of May. Until then we’ll keep building, getting stronger and lighter, gently building the form. Only it will be far from gentle.

My legs have liked the last few months. Long steady rides. They’re going to hate me soon…..

 

Spring’s coming….

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Training on the turbo is okay, it’s something I’ve got myself used to over the past few years, indeed sometimes it’s better for specific training sessions. That’s okay midweek, when training is done before or after work. It’s dark then anyway. But the weekends are for riding outside.

I spend the week working in an office. I go in in the morning, usually take my lunch with me, so often I don’t see the light of day from Monday to Friday during the winter. It’s pretty bleak. One of the things that gets you through those dark days is the prospect of riding your bike again come the weekend. So when the weather puts paid to that, it’s pretty bad.

Finally, after four weeks of training indoors, we got out on the road this weekend. It was surprisingly mild, about 5-6 degrees both days. No need for the winter jacket, it was long-sleeved jersey & gilet both days. I still wear winter leggings though – those will stay on until it’s at least 10 degrees, and then I’ll swap to leg warmers. Over 15 and it’s shorts (unless I’m racing and have to wear them in colder temperatures), but not below.

Both mornings were cold to begin with. I wasn’t sure if I’d been too optimistic with my choice of spring gloves and a cycling cap rather than winter hat under my helmet. But after 20 minutes of effort I’d warmed up.

2.5 hours solo on Saturday, and then almost 4 with a small group today, it felt great to get back outdoors. Flying down the descents, and sprinting out of corners, the prospect of the season ahead was almost tangible.

It’s not long now until our racing begins. Eurosport has racing to tease us with. This week Qatar, next week Oman & the Algarve. Before long the semi-classics will begin. Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne are only two weeks away.

It’s difficult not to get excited, but the reality is we’re in Scotland. Next week it could snow. But even if it does, it’ll be March soon and in just 6 weeks I’ll be on the startline for the first time in 2012.

Spring is definitely on the way…..

It’s just a road….

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Do roads hold such interest for other sports people? I suppose maybe for motorcyclists? Or maybe it’s just a cycling thing.

For the majority of people, a road is for getting from A to B. A stretch of tarmac, nothing to distinguish one from another. Travelling by car is a necessity. Are we there yet?

But for the road cyclist, it’s altogether different. Roads are what we live for. Not motorways to be fair, or dual carriageways (unless you’re a tester), no, they are just for getting from A to B as quickly as possible.

But the smaller roads, the country lanes. They hold untold pleasures for roadies. Pain & suffering as we zig zag up an alpine climb. Or the buzz of being part of a chaingang barrelling along on a Thursday evening. Roads are iconic in our sport.

Belgian roads hold a particular interest for me. The Spring Classics – my favourite races of the season. I have a couple of roads near home here in Inverurie that evoke images of Flanders. Then there’s the road from Invergowrie to St Madoes near Dundee. Flat, open, amongst fields. In my head, I’m in Belgium. On a wet windy day it becomes my Flanders.

Each year in March we go out to Mallorca for our training camp. It’s a week where you get to feel like a pro. The routine is eat, ride, rest, eat, sleep. Then we get up and do it all again the next day. And the next day. It’s bliss, albeit bliss where your legs ache from the effort, and by the end of the week sitting on anything is painful.

The roads there are wonderful! There are miles & miles of rolling roads, generally smooth tarmac, which means you’ll ride a few kilometres an hour faster than at home on our grippy roads.  Out there amongst the fields & small villages dotted around the middle of the island, most of the people you’ll see on those roads are groups of fellow cyclist, with the occasional Pro Team thrown in for good measure.

The north of the island is where we do our work in the mountains. Some epic climbs, Lluc being one of the favourites along with the Puig Major. But the biggie is Sa Calobra. The descent is truly awesome, but once you’re down the only way back to Pollenca is via the Ferry, or by climbing back up. It’s a painful grind, but you’ll feel better for it.

So no, it’s not just a road. It’s the promise of something special. Get out there on a bike and see…..

 

 

Team McGill

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A lot of my non-cycling friends are intrigued by the amount of training that we do. Saturday morning, after tweeting about doing a 2 hour session on the turbo, I got a bunch of tweets saying that just reading my tweets made them feel tired!

Total Endurance Camp Mallorca 2011

As a club rider, I don’t do half the training that some of the top local guys do. On average it’s about 10 hours a week for me, including a couple of hours a week in the gym. But with running a busy business, with offices across Scotland, it’s the maximum that I can do. And sometimes it can be a challenge to fit even that in – hence my 5.30am turbo tweets!

So what’s involved in all this? Who’s in Team McGill? Quite a few people!

First off there’s my coach for the past five years, Ken Bryson of Total Endurance. Ken prepares training plans for me each month, we work on three weeks of hard training & one recovery week each block. Ken structures the training so that my fitness & speed progresses throughout the season, aiming to peak for a few key events.

At my age, looking after my body is a really important part of recovery, and a couple of years ago I was introduced to Joey Devlin of Aberdeen Sports Massage by my mate Ian Brown. I now see Joey every four weeks for an hour of pain, sorry deep tissue massage (hurts like hell, but feels great afterwards!).

Then there’s nutrition. Over the past few years I’ve tried a few different brands, mainly SIS and Allsports, however for the past six months I’ve been using Herbalife supplied by my Perth-based mate Steve Bonthrone. I’ve been really impressed with the products so far, and with Steve being a competitive runner and personal trainer, he’s been able to tailor a program that meets my needs. I’m now at my lightest weight since I started cycling back in 2006, and it’s only January. Hopefully my weight loss will continue and I’ll lose a few more kilos in the next couple of months before the serious racing starts!

And then there’s a couple of training aids. I started using the Sufferfest training videos to relieve the boredom after breaking my collarbone last winter. I now have all 10, and use them for pretty much every turbo session, often just for the kick-ass music and brilliant race footage rather than the workouts themselves (I have my sessions all planned out by Ken).

Recently, thanks to the Sufferfest I’ve been introduced to Athlete’s Audio, an innovative mental training program for sports people. When I played golf, I was really interested in the mental side of the game. I’d never even thought about that side of cycling, but thinking about how you feel in a time trial, the difference between winning and losing, between a PB and an average time, often comes down to that space between your ears. I’m excited to see what difference a strong mental game can make to my cycling this season.

And finally, most importantly, there’s my family. Without the support and understanding of Joanna, Andy & Rebecca (even though she’s at Uni in Dundee now), I wouldn’t be able to commit the time to training and racing that makes all of this possible.

This is what it takes to be a reasonable club rider. To be a good local racer, capable of winning races, will require a lot more. Scary, huh?!?

Power Test 21/1/12

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So, today was the first power test of 2012. I was interested to see how I would do, compared to the last test on 31st December, four weeks ago. In the intervening period I’ve been doing strength work, getting regular weights sessions in the gym, and I’ve also lost 4 lbs.

I struggled with the Hogmany test, and averaged 301w for the test. Not bad, but I’d hoped for more. To be fair, that was the number from last season, giving me an FTP of 285w. I’ve set myself a goal of increasing this to 300w this season.

I was determined to get into “the zone” for the test today. I ate and hydrated well yesterday. I got a good 8 hours sleep, and then my usual porridge and protein shake for breakfast. I picked out my favourite kit (from Shutt VR) and put my race shoes on. All this, to get me in the best frame of mind to take on the 20 minute power test, widely recognised as the most brutal test you can do.

So how did I do? Let’s take a look at the screen grab from Training Peaks
For the 20 minute test, I averaged 311w, an improvement of over 3%! I’m absolutely delighted with that. That takes my FTP up to 295w, so I’m now determined to get that up to 310w by the critical racing point in the season for me – May / June. And if I can keep on losing weight too, then the results should be pretty good providing I can translate this to performance on the road.

A pretty good Saturday morning. I might even let myself have a beer tonight!

Winter training update

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So, considering that back in November I was pretty sure I’d never ride another bike race, my winter training is coming on pretty well! In early December I decided that I had unfinished business racing my bike, so I spoke to my coach Ken Bryson and got back on a training plan that would get me fit for the season.

One of the good things about the running that I did over the autumn was that it kept me fit. And I’m pretty sure that I will go back to it at some point in the future. I’m listening to an audiobook by Ironman Chris McCormack just now, and I definitely want to have a go at some duathlons before I hang up my wheels.

I managed to get back up to cycling fitness pretty quickly, and the two power tests that I did in December showed that I’m actually stronger than I’ve ever been at this stage of the winter. I’ve also been able to get a full winter in the gym, the first time since 2008/9 and I can feel the benefit. On the windy rides over Christmas I was solid on the bike. I haven’t felt like that for a couple of years.

The other thing I’ve added to my armoury over the winter is mental skills training. Back in the days when I played golf, I was a devotee of Bob Rotella and put a lot of time & effort into managing the mental side of the sport. I’d never thought about this in cycling, however I came across Athletes Audio via my Sufferfest videos and decided to check them out.

I bought the Sufferfest promo set for $50 and am working my way through the set. From deep breathing, relaxation and recovery to visualisation and race planning, I’m pretty sure they’re going to help me take my racing to the next level.

The first races of the season are now only six weeks away, and I’m more excited about racing than I have been for a couple of years. Bring it on!