Alpe D'HuZes

cesco

meanredspider wrote:

cesco wrote:

First of all, hats off! Some friends of mine did it and the whole ride is admirable. I hope someday I'll manage to go there and climb it even once. (Also I must admit that riding among such a large group with the scale of this event doesn't particularly appeal to me haha).

What hasn't been mentioned in this thread however, is that there's been a scandal around the organisers last year. It's understandable, as it never reached the international press. Basically, the claim that all donations go directly towards cancer research is not true; or at least it can't be proven. The majority of the money was forwarded not to the Cancer Fund, but to the founder's own Inspire2Live organisation. The founders are also suspected of keeping a large sum for themselves ("managerial fees"). Obviously it's been a game of accusations and denial, but either way their book keeping is not made public; it's mostly unclear where a sum as much as 456.000 euros went.

I hate to be a downer though. You could reason that any money towards cancer is good money; but I just feel there should be more transparency. Also I just wanted to offer a different side of the story that apparently isn't too well known here. Well, maybe things are changed this year, and don't let it keep away from your goal! Again, truly admirable and best of luck!

Thanks - yes, I know there was some lack of clarity over the funding. I was taken through this in some detail by my Dutch team mates. It's not quite as dark as maybe your post paints it but it didn't quite live up to its claim that every cent goes toward cancer care and research. That said, it was pretty incredible that they even managed this for as long as they did: very few charities get even close to that and I know (because my cousin runs a fundraising agency) that a lot of fundraising comes nowhere close to this. The organisers have done a lot to clarify the situation in the last few months. My Dutch isn't good enough to read all the material but my Dutch colleagues are much happier than they were. I think it has been a victim of its very noble aim.

meanredspider

Scales were giving even better news this morning so I'm sure I'm making good progress. The belt agrees. I'm working hard at it.

daxplusplus

If you do this .. just think .. you'll have the form of your life :twisted:

Will you be doing anything else during the year to take advantage of it?

meanredspider

DaxPlusPlus wrote:

If you do this .. just think .. you'll have the form of your life :twisted:

Will you be doing anything else during the year to take advantage of it?

There's no "IF" - totally committed 8)

The second half of my year is actually more focused on car racing (Cadwell, Brands & Oulton) and the weight loss will certainly help there.

I'd like to think my climbing speeds will increase too - if so, I'll be on a mad Strava segment hunt around here. I might enter some events too but I might be a bit sick of cycling What I will want to do is hold onto the step change in weight like the last time I made a big step-change (smaller jeans etc)

It's still going well - weight is falling off currently and I'm not doing anything silly - eating carefully and minimising carbs (apart from porridge for breakfast) that's all.

daxplusplus

meanredspider wrote:

DaxPlusPlus wrote:

If you do this .. just think .. you'll have the form of your life :twisted:

Will you be doing anything else during the year to take advantage of it?

There's no "IF" - totally committed 8)

meanredspider

DaxPlusPlus wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

DaxPlusPlus wrote:

If you do this .. just think .. you'll have the form of your life :twisted:

Will you be doing anything else during the year to take advantage of it?

There's no "IF" - totally committed 8)

It's funny how things rub off from your kids. My son's determination in this case is rubbing off on me. He's just done his Higher exam prelims(mock exams) - results so far 89%, 90% and 93% (top mark in his year in each subject): he's describing them as only "solid" results :shock: But it's a timely reminder that the only limits are those you put on yourself....

daxplusplus

It's a whole virtuous circle thing .. people's view of what's possible is influenced strongly by the people they hang out with.

Ps Good to hear your son is doing so well .. bet that's the best feeling of all.

meanredspider

Back in the Highlands this weekend and did a few of the longer hills - at least a couple of PBs and I wasn't trying to go quick so the time on the turbo seems to be helping.

Was great being back on the Volagi - I love that bike.

Weight consistently -3kgs from where I started. Pleased with that steady reduction. Next milestone is to get below 90kg

jimmypippa

cjcp wrote:

And inner tubes. You'll need those. Lots of them. Just in case your rims overheat on the descents and your tyre blows.

Actually, that won't be too much of a problem - he's got disc brakes.

meanredspider

Yesterday was really encouraging. I sought out the two hills I like least (Mt High and Mt Eagle) and was very relaxed going up them. Two parts of that which are great: 1. Knowing that the turbo time has paid off (I got a PB going up Mt High even without pushing) 2. The sense that these hills (Strava calls the Mt High climb a Cat 3) will be mere pimples come June.

Funny thing is that I was so focused on going up that I didn't pay attention when going down the other side of Mt High. Descending is normally my forte - despite being 4C and snowing on and off, I was still 4th fastest on Strava. If I'd attacked it, I'd easily have got the fastest time.

Very happy with progress.

meanredspider

The training is obviously working: started pulling involuntary wheelies away from the lights on the Brompton :shock:

Allez Mark

Not sure if this will help but... How to train for mountains if you don't live near any.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbrKH4Q ... DC&index=1

meanredspider

Ah cool - thanks. Enjoyed watching that series of videos. Not so much there that's totally relevant because my day is going to be completely about endurance rather than speed. It was still very interesting. I'm going to be getting myself a power meter I think (good excuse ) in order to target my efforts in training and on the day.

meanredspider

Quick update. Firstly - weight: #1 priority. Trousers getting loose and belt needs an extra notch. Scales say 91kg quite regularly - so that's 4kg off. Now I'm getting to the hard bit 90 down to 85kg.

Secondly - training. Went for a 54-mile, 5000ft of climbing, ride around Limburg. Amazing to ride up hills in NL - even more amazing that some were as steep as 20%. One of the guys I was riding with did AD6 last year, riding up the Alpe 6x. I'd have said my current shape was pretty similar to his; tracking him up the hills at a similar pace. At least I know that my goal is probably achievable. My turbo training is doing me good and I felt ok on the climbs although none of them was very long (Box Hill wouldn't have been out of place). It was only 2-3C, windy (20mph) and wet which just added to the fun. Lots of the hills were Amstel Gold hills - nice to do some classic climbs. Even visited the highest spot in NL (which is nearly in both Germany and Belgium) at 320-ish metres.

Other stuff - starting to get corporate sponsors together for our jerseys. Will try to figure out the best way to get UK individual sponsors because the current method requires a Dutch bank account. Ordered a power meter to help me pace myself up the hill. All-in-all good progress. Next week I'm in Hungary all working week so my plan is to be hungry in Hungary..

itboffin

all of this is a big ruse so you could buy a power meter wasnt it

meanredspider

itboffin wrote:

all of this is a big ruse so you could buy a power meter wasnt it

I wish I'd been that smart! Unfortunately I'm fully signed up and committed... :oops: :shock:

daxplusplus

itboffin wrote:

all of this is a big ruse so you could buy a power meter wasnt it

+1

Why did it take me so long to realise! Face palm

meanredspider

DaxPlusPlus wrote:

itboffin wrote:

all of this is a big ruse so you could buy a power meter wasnt it

+1

Why did it take me so long to realise! Face palm

Big ruse to lose weight too. Scales say 90kg - that's 5kg to the good 8)

I'm slightly worried that by 85kg, my clothes will be hanging off me. It is one way, though, to keep the weight off me: buy new trousers!

itboffin

or do what i did just wear your cycling clothes more often

PS. not the shorts mind

meanredspider

itboffin wrote:

or do what i did just wear your cycling clothes more often

PS. not the shorts mind

My work environment (where suits are pretty common though not mandated) might be a challenge for cycling gear.

The last time I lost a chunk of weight (15kg that time), it cost me a small fortune (3x Boss suits, several jackets, DJ, coats, race fireproof overalls etc) I've since kept all that weight off. This time I only have two suits at stake (one only 6 months old) but, with my new job, several pairs of "smart" (= expensive) trousers too. In the grand scheme of things, losing weight (and keeping it off) is far more important. I need to find a good alterations tailor...

meanredspider

More improvement - just did Alpe D'Huez on the Tacx to the very top in 1:11. That's 6 minutes faster than 3 weeks ago.

dhope

meanredspider wrote:

itboffin wrote:

or do what i did just wear your cycling clothes more often

PS. not the shorts mind

My work environment (where suits are pretty common though not mandated) might be a challenge for cycling gear.

The last time I lost a chunk of weight (15kg that time), it cost me a small fortune (3x Boss suits, several jackets, DJ, coats, race fireproof overalls etc) I've since kept all that weight off. This time I only have two suits at stake (one only 6 months old) but, with my new job, several pairs of "smart" (= expensive) trousers too. In the grand scheme of things, losing weight (and keeping it off) is far more important. I need to find a good alterations tailor...

You could sell them to ITB, he's going the other way :twisted:

Kieran_Burns

New page, quick reminder

itboffin

meanredspider wrote:

itboffin wrote:

or do what i did just wear your cycling clothes more often

PS. not the shorts mind

My work environment (where suits are pretty common though not mandated) might be a challenge for cycling gear.

The last time I lost a chunk of weight (15kg that time), it cost me a small fortune (3x Boss suits, several jackets, DJ, coats, race fireproof overalls etc) I've since kept all that weight off. This time I only have two suits at stake (one only 6 months old) but, with my new job, several pairs of "smart" (= expensive) trousers too. In the grand scheme of things, losing weight (and keeping it off) is far more important. I need to find a good alterations tailor...

wow people still wear suits to work?

by work i mean actual work so that all you political and legal lot OUT

meanredspider

itboffin wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

itboffin wrote:

or do what i did just wear your cycling clothes more often

PS. not the shorts mind

My work environment (where suits are pretty common though not mandated) might be a challenge for cycling gear.

The last time I lost a chunk of weight (15kg that time), it cost me a small fortune (3x Boss suits, several jackets, DJ, coats, race fireproof overalls etc) I've since kept all that weight off. This time I only have two suits at stake (one only 6 months old) but, with my new job, several pairs of "smart" (= expensive) trousers too. In the grand scheme of things, losing weight (and keeping it off) is far more important. I need to find a good alterations tailor...

wow people still wear suits to work?

by work i mean actual work so that all you political and legal lot OUT

Worldwide headquarters - it leads to these things. No ties though and some jeans. Just no Lycra

meanredspider

Stages power meter turned up today. Despite only just having had lunch (burp!) I decided to put it to the test versus my Tacx (more to test the Tacx than the Stages, which has already been validated elsewhere)


So, people, place your bets as to how well the two compare :?:

To give you a little more help, I set the Tacx on a power/time test - in this case 200W for 5 minutes (didn't fancy repeating smoked salmon and scrambled eggs all afternoon). The Tacx then tries to keep the resistance at 200W for 5 minutes.
.
.
.
Well - the results are here:

http://app.strava.com/activities/116896174
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.
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For the test the average result was

Tacx average Power 194W

Stages average Power 195W

And it tracked pretty well within that too. I will do a more thorough test with a climb later but overall I'm pretty happy for now.

meanredspider

Did my first century of the year today. 20 knot winds off the Markermeer (huge pond north of Amsterdam) which I was lapping. Headwind on the return 50 miles was pretty brutal but great training for AD6 both mentally and physically

meanredspider

Just a quick update on my progress.

Firstly, weight: I'm now somewhere between 86 & 87kg and people who haven't seen me in a while are really noticing. New trousers are on order as I can get a fist into the waistband on a few pairs.

Secondly, training: I bought a Stages power meter and my normalised power continues to climb. I've been doing a few century rides for endurance and these have been going really well. I can really feel it in my shorter rides too - I've done a couple of 40-mile loops averaging 20mph which feels good. Today I did another Tacx turbo ride up Alpe D'Huez and beat my previous best time by a full 4 minutes even though I'm now 3kg below the entered weight on the turbo. I'm reasonably confident that on the day I should be able to sit at 200W reasonable comfortably.

Other stuff: I've been using the power of the Beet and drinking beetroot juice (mixed with some apple juice). Also eating absurd quantities of green veg. It maybe having a placebo effect but I'm fine with that.

I've fitted the Volagi with 12-30 cassette and 33 ring up front to give me some bale out options on the day.

I had a bit of a scare when I asked the doc for a medical declaration as she thought my blood pressure was too high. A week of home monitoring showed that it was in fact fine (down at 105/70 at times) but it did help me adjust my diet a bit.

Money-wise, my bro has become a shirt sponsor for €500. I also got £500 out of my "Daddy Pig" surprise appearance on BBC Scotland.

And that's about me up to date. Just under two months to go. I've got to go the Hong Kong for a week in the middle of that which is a bit of a PITA. But, if I slaughter myself in the lead up to that, the rest will do me good.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement.

rubertoe

MRS.

someone else is a weirdo.

http://app.strava.com/activities/80314038

notsoblue

Wow, I've only just realised how the title of this post isn't a typo.