My Biggest Week on a Bike …………ever, ever (until maybe next week?)

Last week was my biggest ever week on a bike. I jogged in over 440 miles. Before coming out to Spain my biggest week on a bike was at the height of race season with a week coming in at 310 miles. That’s a big step up. The week before was 380 miles. This year is becoming a big step up. The training is going well.

The greatest difference between training at home and training out here is that since I’ve been out here; the only thing to do is train, eat and sleep. There is no need to get up early, compromise on recovery or compromise on roads. We treat every day like a Sunday with a lie in and then training starting at 10am.

We normally go out in a group but don’t necessarily stay together for the day. The night before, everyone talks about what they have set out for the next day which will typically have some or a lot of overlap. The master plan is then created. You could see it as ‘formation cycling’ with riders coming in and out during the day but climbs can often be a focal point for everyone’s endurance training.

This coming week we have a ride to Valencia planned. From Calpe it is 74 miles there and (ouch!) 74 miles back. So 148 miles round trip! That will definitely be the biggest ride I have ever done. I’m a little nervous about it. Hopefully a nice big group will be out otherwise it’s a long day working with the wind – a tailwind on the way home may be key to my survival!!

My race plan has also come through for March - I have Jock Wadley for the 11th March and then I will fly over for the Tour da Malta (& Gozo) for a 4 day stage race which I’m really excited for. It’s meant to be a really friendly race (but are they ever really?!) and it’s the sunny! The plan is to fly out 2 days before the race, do the race and then ride round the island the day after the race before flying home. This will be my first stage race and first race abroad of the season.

I can’t wait.