Russell Ashford

May - A test of Mind & Body

The good weather continues into May. This long spell of dry and warmish weather has been perfect for training. Although the start of May was more about DIY than riding.  With a week off work, I planned to balance decorating with a couple of training rides, culminating in my longest ride to date. 

On Bank Holiday Monday, I rode to Croome Court with Dave and Claire, who is taking on her own challenge in June, riding London to Paris for Cure Leukaemia. A chilled 70km was a good start to the week before the paintbrushes came out.  

Mid-week, there was an opportunity to do a 250km ride with some mates who were heading from Bromsgrove down to Chepstow, over the Severn Bridge, and back.  It sounded great, but with DIY commitments and the nervous anticipation of taking on my longest ride ever a few days later, I decided to pass on this one.   

On Friday, 10th May, with the painting mostly done, it was time to pick up Lis and Loz and drive to Usk. We’re taking part in The Three Hundred Audax.  The route distance (300km) and elevation (3,000 m) was similar to M2L, albeit with the notable climbs were towards the end.  I was feeling a little anxious about this ride, but I had a fuelling plan, and Lis and Loz have their TCR pairs strategy to do 5-mile (I’m working on converting them both to Km’s) swaps on the front.  

It was an early start (although not quite early enough as we missed the official start). A beautiful route took us towards Monmouth, looping via Tintern to Chepstow and over the Severn bridge to Slimbridge for 2nd breakfast.   After egg on toast and coffee, it was back over the bridge and onwards to Talybont-on-Usk, on the edge of Bannau Brycheiniog.  Salty chips and coke were consumed before the Llangynidr climb, the biggest hill on the route. I promise after 160 km that one hurt.  It was now 17:30 and we still had 80 miles to go.   I could’ve happily stayed on top of the hill in the warm sun, but ushered on by Lis, we set off back towards Raglan for a final reverse lap of the starting loop, arriving back to the square in Usk at 22:06, in time for a beer. 

It was a long day, 16 hrs in total, and the longest ever ride for Lis and I. Psychologically, it was a good boost to have completed it. It’s made Manchester to London feel a little less daunting. 

On the 18th May, four of us rode to Edgehill to watch two friends take part in the Banbury Star Road Race (and bag more tiles), getting another 150km in the legs.  

With one month to go until M2L, I’m feeling prepared, but there’s still time to improve and hopefully drop a few more kilos.  

The next blog update will be following the event, but I’ll be sharing images and progress updates on the day via Instagram. 

April - Lighter nights & longer days

March - Spring is springing

February - More like the plan

January - Follow The Process

Tiles are a good motivator

Last ride of 2024

Not quite to plan

In my last update I talked about using the autumn to drop a few Kg & improve my endurance.  I’d like to say I’ve made some progress, but alas, I can’t.  In fact the weight has gone in the wrong direction (it’s Christmas) & I’ve not ridden as much as I planned, due to work, lurgy and family life.  

Thankfully the Christmas break gave me a little more time.  This allowed me to increase my weekly distance to 140km last week. Riding in the mist & gloom, but motivated by spending time outside with others in my local club V-Sprint. This week I’ve managed 150km, although with the snow & ice about half of this was on the indoor trainer.  

I’ve also put some time into creating a simple training plan.  During Jan the aim is to maintain 150-160km each week, then start increasing weekly mileage by about 10 percent week. I also plan to do one (maybe two) long rides each month, starting with 100km in Jan & increasing by 50km each month.  By mid April I should have at least one 200km ride in the legs, just short of my longest distance ever ridden.  In May & with the benefit of longer days I plan to do a 12-14 hour ride & see what distance I can cover.  

I plan to ride three times a week, with 2 short mid week rides to focus on threshold and improving V02 max.  It’s not all bikes though, to keep some variation I’ve included some yoga, core and weight workouts. 

My next goal for end of Jan, is to maintain 150-160km per week & lose 3-4kg.   If you’ve got this far, thank you for reading & supporting me with this challenge, it’s certainly outside of my comfort zone. 

When to start training?