I'm off to the Olympic Velopark again this evening after work. I've become inseparable from my heart-rate monitor of late, and I want to try and do some structured zonal training. I've also discovered that one can hire a time-trial bike at the track, which I'm itching to do.
I've really become obsessed with 'testing' this year. I used to practice this dark art bee-in-the-dee, but it served solely then as an easy entrée into the world of competitive cycling for me, a poor cousin of road racing. Bunch races require serious commitment and organisation - not my strong suit. A tt, however, is much less judgemental. You can turn up on what you like, having done as much or as little training as you like. You can't do that at t road road without looking a like a prize twat.
In the past, this low-tech approach to tting was enough for me. I'd ride as hard as I could for 20 minutes and hope for the best. Technology has moved on immeasurably in the last 15 years though, and now I wouldn't dream of riding without a hear-rate monitor and a computer. These days, I know what exactly what lap I'm on and exactly how close to my threshold I am. One's 'threshold' in cycling is that point beyond which one blows a gasket. Steam can often be seen issuing at pressure from the ears of reckless cyclists who stray too close to it. The idea of course is to get close enough to it to minimise one's race time, but not so close as to deplete the resources so greatly that one is reduced to communicating for the rest of the day by arching eyebrows.
This evening I will be riding in zone 4, which is 2 below pulse Valhalla. I'm hoping it's easy to sustain, but not sp slow as to cause offence to other road users. Time, and the heart-rate monitor, will tell.
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