Seasonal adjustment

It’s that time of year when I feel like I’m getting fat and worry about how hard I’ll be battling come January to shed the pounds, or rather the kilograms I’ve put on.

With no race last weekend and work this weekend I feel like I’m plumping up again. I don’t feel like I’m riding enough to be as fit as I want to be for next year, although the Cyclocross is helping with that. I currently weigh in at betwen 74 and 76 kg, depending on the prevailing wind and the previous night’s menu.

In reality it’s not particularly heavy, there are plenty of riders heavier than me out there. It just feels slightly lumpen to me when I aspire to getting down to 70kg for racing next season. I got down to around 71-73 last season but can’t help feeling that little bit more off would make a difference.

It doesn’t help that I’ve not been eating well and that my hours and general lifestyle has been a little less than routine of late, but these are the things that every amateur – and no doubt a few professionals too – has to cope with in their cycling life. I know I’ve said before thatI’m not a pro and there’s no reason for me to try pretending that I am in my training and lifestyle, but I would at least like to be a respectable amateur.

The lack of riding makes me a bit fretful and I tend to make it up by riding like a man possessed when I can. So winding it up hard on a 50 minute ride from Acton to Islington via Kings Cross counts as an intensity session and sprint repetitions mixed into one, while the reverse route in 35 minutes counts as a threshold session. No prizes for figuring out which way is up the hill and which is down.

Is this helpful training? If you regard all time spent on the bike as good, then yes. If you think that lack of structure is poor training, then no. I’m just glad I can do any training at all.

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