Such is the scale of the challenge ahead that I made the enormous personal sacrifice of foregoing the normal second ski trip of the season, deciding that a week in the sun riding my bike would help out my cause. I booked myself into a 6 day training camp in Spain’s Costa Blanca region in mid March to kick on my training schedule and get some sun on my face, miles in my legs and a few good climbs under my belt.
As nobody was really able to join me, I decided to holiday on my own. Rather than joining one of the super camps that take over 100 people per week I opted for the more personal approach offered by Citrus Cycling based in Benidoleig near Denia, Costa Blanca. I failed to link the fact that this place had stunning views with it’s location.... on the top of a very big, rather steep hill. While the place can accommodate up to 8 guests, for some reason on this week (and this week alone) I would be the only guest of very amiable hosts Alex and Adam. I am not sure whether this will be a blessing or a curse.... on one hand I will not be chucked out of the back of a group of 9 stone 20 somethings who have been racing since they were 12, but on the other hand, there will be nowhere to hide when the going gets tough.
A couple of weeks before my arrival, Adam sent me an e-mail enquiring as to my objectives for the week so that he could do some appropriate route planning. Now for me, objectives are the thing that I fail to deliver at work, not something that take on holiday, but the novelty of the idea prompted the following response:-
1. Get used to spending a long time in the saddle after the winter break
2. Climb some long alpine like col’s
3. Do at least one day of over 100 miles (I have never done more than 90 miles in a day and feel the need to overcome this psychological barrier)
4. To get better at descending (I struggle a bit with hairpin bends accompanied by a 1000ft drop when they approach at great speed and the only thing to protect you is a couple of inches of rubber claiming to be brakes and a helmet made of polystyrene and styled to make your head look rather like a mushroom)
No comments:
Post a Comment