Observations

mrc1

I ended last season pretty happy with my fitness - I did a 27 minute flat 10 mile TT on a standard road bike (no tri bars etc) and to those londoners on the forum I did a one lap pb of richmond park in 17.55 and 3 laps in 58.48.

Since then I have had 7 months off the bike due to being overseas with work and a 40 mile a week marathon training programme and managed to get back on the bike last sunday. My observations after 25 undulating miles:

1. Cycle fitness post no cycling for 7 months was not as bad as I was expecting. If anything I was able to maintain higher heart rates more comfortably - assume this is because of the marathon training getting me used to keeping high heart rates for over three hours without a break. Although my average speed was about 1mph down on what I was doing last year over a similar route.

2. I was happy to keep pedalling at a higher cadence rather than easing off on easier sections to catch my breath (again i put this down to the marathon training as you cant free wheel when running....).

3. I was noticeably weaker in the quads. Whenever my mate kicked or went for it I was definitely working much harder to react and keep up - the same goes for out of the saddle when climbing. In the saddle my climbing was slightly weaker but out of the saddle it was noticeably worse.

4. My backside is no longer used to my racing saddle and therefore sitting was extremely uncomfortable the next day

Now before everyone starts I'm not saying that running has made me a better cyclist. I am sure that had I have put in the same dedication to a cycling training programme as I put into the running programme I would be miles ahead. However, except for the lack of acceleration and raw power I dont feel anywhere near as far behind as I was expecting!