Santini Cotswold Spring Classic Sportive

I was feeling under prepared for a long ride through the Cotswolds after an almost two week layoff. I signed up with the intent of doing the longer 170km route.

The day was wet and windy and got progressively worse as the day wore on. About a third of the riders who signed up did not show for the start, including the two who I was supposed to ride with. The Cotswold sportive is not as hilly as some. There is a minor climb out near Bisley (Limekiln lane) followed by 40 or 50 km of gently undulating terrain around the Cotswold Lakes.

There was a food stop at Poultney after 60km. The riding got progressively harder after this point as the head wind kicked up and the rain poured down. My lack of endurance started to tell, especially on the 1km climb at Withington, near the 90km point. As the ride wound back to Cirencester it was an easy decision to cut out the extra 70km and head for the finish. I suspect a lot of the other riders felt the same way as the final results did not show too many long course finishers: (http://www.veloevents.co.uk/csc/riders.php).

As a gauge for the etape in July this was a wake up call that I have a lot more training to do. This ride was half the distance and one quarter of the climbing and I found it tough. More disconcerting is that about thirty km from the finish I developed a pain in my lower back on the right side. By the time I finished it was close to debilitating.
I need a lot more 100km+ rides in the next three months. Time to step up the training to 150-200km per week.

• 107.1km
  Distance
• 1120m
  Elevation
• 04:28:11
  Moving Time
• 2,038
  Calories

Bike adjustments

After two weeks of training on a different bike in California it was immediately apparent on getting back on my own bike that it did not feel right. I was used to a certain position and when I got on my bike I had to reach a few centimeters further forward to reach the bars.

I ordered a new handlebar stem eXotic that reduced the reach by 30mm. That seems like a better fit.

Return to Kings Mountain

Back in England the will to get out and train in near zero temperatures was seriously sapped. I managed two rides in five weeks.
Luckily another trip to the Bay area resuscitated my enthusiasm and got me back on track.
On arrival on Monday afternoon I immediately headed over to CyclePath in San Mateo and picked up a bike. I was fortunate to have a training partner in tow (Paul Hilliar) for the entire two weeks to prevent me from slacking.
The next morning I was wide awake at 2am and pottered around until 5 and then headed out to Canada Road in a rented truck to the start of the ride.
That was pretty much the pattern for the entire trip.
In the ten days out in California I managed eight rides and they all included an ascent of Kings Mountain.
Total distance covered was 400K+ and almost 8K of climbing.

Kings Mountain

The final ride of my stay in San Francisco was a chilly morning ride up to Canada road and then continued upwards on Kings Mountain Road.
These last three rides were with Paul Hilliar who, being fitter than me, provided a hare to chase. He got plenty of rest at the top of ascents waiting for me to catch up.

Similar to the La Honda ride this one starts with the smaller climb up Ralston Avenue with a 11K flat section along Canada road which at this time of the year is a good deal colder than the lower peninsula. Once the digits were firmly numbed it was time to wind up Kings Mountain road. This is a Cat 2 7K climb.
Needless to say everything had thawed out within a few hundred meters of ascending.
The climb is comparable to the last section of Mount Hamilton and about one third of The Tormalet distance.

Once on Skyline Blvd there is a few more hundred meters of climbing before the long ascent down Skyline, La Honda and then Woodside for a total ride of 75K before breakfast.

A nice finish to the trip and a good base this early in the season to build upon.

La Honda road and Skyline

The mountains to the west of Foster City provide plenty of climbing opportunities. This route involves climbing Ralston Ave which is nothing more than a short warm up for the hills ahead.

After reaching Canada road, which is closed off to traffic to give cyclists free access on Sundays, the route heads south until Woodside road. Heading West on Woodside you can opt to tackle Kings Mountain or head straight up La Honda road. I decided to leave Kings for another day and worked my way up La Honda. The view is hidden by trees so there is nothing for it but to put your head down and grind it out for 5 or 6 kilometeres until you reach the junction to Skyline Boulevard where there is a trading station that makes a convenient resting point.

After refilling the water bottle and chatting to a group of riders it was back to climbing again up Skyline. A few more hundred metres of ascending and then then long run down to route 92. The wind was blowing a bit up there which made ascending tricky and the road surface was horrendous. It is not a route that I would choose again.

At the bottom of 92 I turned left and over Bunker a hill for a pleasant descent down Polhemus and Crystal Springs road and home.

After five straight days in the saddle my legs were feeling the strain but it has been an excellent start to training in the New Year and I hope to build on that back in England.

The stats:

• 75.9 km

  DISTANCE

 
• 1,214 m

  ELEVATION (?)

 
• 03:31:37

  MOVING TIME

  
  

Mount Hamilton

After three consecutive mornings of pottering around on minor hills it was time at the weekend to tackle a big ride. I decided to pick a HC category climb near San Jose.
Mount Hamilton is a 30 kilometer climb gaining 1200 metres of elevation.

I took a train down to San Jose and set off through downtown out East towards the foothills. After 10 kilometeres I reached the turn off to the mountain road and the climb started immediately. The first 10 kilometeres of climbing were quite pleasant with some excellent views of San Jose which was now getting smaller. The route then turns inwards and you get the first view of the James Lick Observatory twenty kilometeres in the distance and high up in the hills.

It is a popular route and there were several groups of riders hurtling down the return. There were several flat and downhill sections to give relief to the constant uphill grind. At about 11 kilometeres from the finish the final climb starts and the grade gets a little steeper. I pulled off to the side of the road to take some food in and then set off again on the final push.

The observatory is in constant view around the many twists and turns giving you a reminder of just how much elevation is still to be gained. There is a final sting in the tail as you reach the parking lot and realize there is a steep 200 feet more to the very top.

After a quick tour of the observatory and a few snaps it was back on the bike for the fantastic 30 kilometer descent. There were some rough patches of road to negotiate at speed but also a lot of fabulous new tarmac which made for a smooth and exciting descent. In no time all I was back at the mountain road junction and heading back into San Jose for a flat finish.

It was a fairly tough ride, especially this early in my training schedule when my legs don't yet have the power I would like. But as a taster for what to expect in the Etape it was great. It is sobering though to compare it to the Tormalet and realize that the Tormalet involves a couple of hundred metres more elevation gain in only 20 kilometeres.

I will probably try this ride again in 3 months or so and hope to knock 20 minutes off my time.

The key stats:

• 80.1 km

  DISTANCE

 
• 1,583 m

  ELEVATION (?)

 
• 04:22:30

  MOVING TIME

  
  

Winter training camp

The New Year has started and the training now starts in earnest.

Luckily my regular business trips to California means I can get some serious training in despite it being the middle of winter. The current daytime temperature in the Bay area is between 18 and 22 degrees centigrade.

I arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon and immediately headed over to CyclePath bike rentals in San Mateo (http://www.cyclepathsm.com/rental.php).

I picked up a Leonard carbon racer and booked it out for 9 days and perused the awesome climbs of the surrounding hills.

Wednesday morning I was up before the crack of dawn, due to jet lag, and headed out. This is a golden opportunity to put in some mileage every day for a week and a half. On top of that there are some fantastic hill climbs all around the area.

On Thursday I tackled Ralston Avenue (Cat 4 climb) and an exhilarating descent down Crystal Springs Road - all before breakfast.

Key Stats:

• 35.3 km

  DISTANCE

 
• 380 m

  ELEVATION (?)

 
• 01:38:11

  MOVING TIME