Training Log Archive: AC

Out on the roadie on a cool, grey, breezy morning. Headed out in the general direction I went yesterday and took a few roads that I vaguely remembered from when I was doing a lot more road cycling a few years ago including one through th Foret de Marly that was closed to cars. Very nice road although it deteriorated after about 8km and was quite broken up with lots of gravel patches. No dramas though and got through it fine. Quite an annoying side wind for most of the ride and only benefitted from it a few times when the road swung in the right direction. One particularly hard stretch at around 40km with a couple of km uphill into th wind. Finished well, but lega and back very tired now.

Back in Paris after a busy and tiring work trip to Istanbul, Ankara and Barcelona, followed by a frantic day in the office on Friday. Good to get out though on a cool and breezy morning. Headed out on the road bike (mtb still in the shop) past St Cloud and Vaucresson into the countryside north of Versailles. Nice riding through rolling farmland and small towns. The headwind on the way out didn't really bother me too badly and even had a patch around 30-35 km when was pedalling really well into the wind. Punctured just after that and, after a quick change, headed back at a rapid ace with a nice tailwind behind me. A couple of scary traffic moments coming past Roland Garros where people and cars were beginning to arrive already. Had to brake really hard on one occasion and locked the back wheel - good test of the brakes and they passed beautifully.

This kind of ride helps me to remember how lucky I am to live in this part of Paris with the countryside within an easy 12-14km ride away.

In Istanbul. In the hotel gym again, back on the stationary bike. Did a "hill" workout this time and watched the last hour of the Giro d'Italia, which just so happened to be a mountain top finish so quite exciting and distracting to watch. Good workout followed by a dip in the pool.

In Istanbul. Got onto the stationary bike in the well-equipped hotel gym. Did an hour's worth of 4 mins hard, 3 mins easy. Legs tired towards the end. Good training. Dived into th epool afterwards to cool down.