May 2012 Review

We are almost a week into June already, so time to get down my thoughts on what was a very productive and positive month of May on the bike.

Mileage - 695km  (2012 total so far - 2189km)
Weight - 79kg  (down 0.5kg for the month)

Firstly, I'm very happy with the mileage figure.  More than that actually, I'm totally stoked! I finally managed to string together a consistent month of training.  Prior to May, I was averaging a very pedestrian 370km/month.  I managed to almost double that for this month, and easily crashed through my goal of 600km.

The increased mileage made a very noticeable difference with both my overall fitness and speed.  My club race performances were solid, and my speed when doing intervals and harder rides showed a definite and clear increase.  All great stuff, and it has made it very clear what I need to continue doing if I want to get better at this cycling caper...

Highlights for the month has definitely been the racing - three races (2 club, 1 Open) for the month all up.  Whilst the Open race was a bit of a disaster result-wise, it was still great fun.  Plus the club races showed me that being competitive is definitely a realistic and achievable target to keep striving for.

Weight-wise, my body seems to have recalibrated itself to stabilise in the high-70's, which is another plus.  My goal now is just to monitor it and stay comfortably below 80kg for the next few months at least.

So what's ahead for June?

The dominating event ahead of me is the Avanti Classic - an 80km handicap on Sunday 24th June, held near Fernvale (west of Brisbane, Queensland), on a course that crosses the Wivenhoe Dam wall on both laps.

Its a longer race, and so my training will be pitched accordingly - making sure I have the legs to get me through 80km (around 2.5hrs of racing) in good shape.

The month hasn't started off too well - I haven't ridden at all yet due to a lingering cold.  But I'm not too concerned - its all about having fun. So as soon as I stop coughing and sniffling, I'll get back to logging some decent long rides in anticipation of the big race.

Keep the rubber side down!