At least if you leave your contact lenses at home… I’d like to say how nice Spain looks, but to be honest I didn’t see it that well when out on my ride. It added a new dimension to descending too when you can’t pick out all the details. I should say my sight isn’t so bad that it was really that dangerous, but it wasn’t ideal.
Otherwise it was a good weekend’s training – some solid biking in Spanish hills, first open water swim of the year and a little bit of running. It was a bit of a shock to the system to be able to go out on the bike in just shorts and a jersey worrying more about sun burn than the cold. I learnt a few things:
- I can manage a ride without my contacts, so should I lose them in a race I could cope
- I still can’t descend as well as others (but I can use my eyesight as an excuse pretty well)
- I can climb well though and make up for the loss of time on descents
- Aero setups make a big difference on the flat, especially with a headwind
- Without my contacts I get motion sickness in choppy seas
- Day 1 easy rides, become all out efforts quite easily (not my fault, I wasn’t the only one pushing it)
I can take a few things away from the weekend. Firstly and most obviously, don’t forget things like contact lenses, no point adding more difficulties. With some motivation I can put out a pretty solid ride for quite a long time, add a more aero setup on the road bike and it should be no problem sticking with the others when they’re down on their aerobars.
The plan then is to sort out my road bike set-up and use my next two races and training camps to test it out. If I can get it right and be well balanced, powerful and reasonably aerodynamic then it’s what will go to Switzerland. So this week I’ll pick the components I need, buy them and fit out the bike for the weekend. A couple of test rides, then it’s the Cambridge Duathlon the next weekend. Finally this month I’m heading back for another weekend in Spain where I can see if the changes work.
Travel today was a bit of a nightmare so along with sore legs I’m breaking the 2 hour training rule again and will make things up over the next few days.
Finally obligatory comments on the weather… It was warm, sunny, I wore shorts… I dodged the snow… I’m happy… And it doesn’t look so bad really for the rest of the week
