Posts Tagged ‘Tacx’

That Was The Summer That Was…..

Posted: June 9, 2012 in Cycling, general, training
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Back in April, and full of hope, I posted that I had decommissioned the Tacx iMagic Turbo and put back Colnago Bling Machine back on the road. Well, unfortunately, this was never going to work out, and in truth I should have known.

With the long awaited arrival of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Weekend, I (His Podgeness) decided to make a week of it and took the rest of the week off, which by the way is why there have been no joy of travel updates :-). The intention, as I’m sure you will have guessed was not just to enjoy the Jubilee Celebrations (which I did) but also to get in lots of carefree cycling miles. How naive could I have been. Having basked in glorious sunshine the week before, most of which I either spent on the train [of which i wrote plenty] or in the office, I was greeted with a week of blithering wind and rain and then more rain and wind and then some more.

So, I’m sad to report that His Podgeness did NOT get out in the road at all :-(. So, there I was feeling very picked on and generally in a sulk I decided that I was going to play bikes one way or another and looked to tinker, but this achieved little. In the end, I bit the bullet and dismantled my old Ribble Stealth and built my new De Rosa Tango Stealth [check it out here]. That done, and looking at the weather forecast going forward, I gave in and brought out the iMagic and reinstated the Colnago back to the role of chief turbo bike while retaining the De Rosa for general road use.

Buoyed on by the  knowledge, and subsequent envy and pride of course, that Swifty Matt Conner has just spent the same week in the Alps and thought they while there, he’d just pop out and complete ‘La Marmotte‘ route as part of his training. Given that the route takes in the  Col du Glandon, Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and finishes on the Alpe d’Huez this is no mean feat, so cracking job Matt: well done and yes, I really do envy you. But, you have spurred me on. I have the Ventoux route on the iMagic, and yes, I will do it, maybe not this week but it will be this summer. So now, I’m off to the turbo.

Look out for my next post on how I ended up in the raging torrents of the Shalbourne Brook. 🙂

Go Podge, Go.

Cyclist Reborn, or, Cyclist Recycled

Posted: April 23, 2012 in Cycling, training, Travel
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The trouble with packing away a turbo for the season, especially if it’s a Tacx iMagic is that sometimes, just sometimes, some of the ‘bits’ go astray and putting it back together ain’t so easy. In a flash of inspiration however, it did occur to me that with three cyclists in the household, there are three turbos (only my one is an iMagic) and that of those three, two are the right size for me. So, with much appreciation to the Mole Man (Nick) I can leave the iMagic for another day. 🙂
I have to say, it will be weird as the bike on the trainer is my old Giant which I passed on to Nick a couple of years ago so it will be a kind of reunion I suppose.
Naturally, switching to another bike & trainer (the Colnago is staying off Turbos) does mean that I’ll need another pair of shoes as Nick uses Look and I use SPD. Why do I use SPDs? It’s because it’s easier to walk up hills with mtb type shoes than with Look and for those that know me, I don’t like hills. I do hills. I cuss hills. I even look for hills but I don’t like them. And with my advancing years and my shrinking clothes!, getting up some hills does cause me to realise the term ‘Push Bike’ :-).
I’ve ordered a new pair of wheels for the Colnago by the way, just to add to its blinginess and will post a new photo when she’s ready: so that’ll be something to look forward to.
I’m now looking to acquire an old hack as I’ll be looking to cycle to the station in the future rather than drive the three quarters of mile each day. Better still, I’ve worked out I can cycle to the next station which is about 9-miles on which will give me my mileage quota and save me money. Of course I won’t be so smug when it’s blowing a gale and chucking it down with hail / rain but I’ll just have to deal with that as and when it happens.
As I seem to running out of pixels, I’ll finish here and switch to work mode now 😦 Byeee.
Go Podge Go.

Reborn Cyclist – Fedup

Posted: April 17, 2012 in Cycling
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Typical isn’t it? Last week, I took the window of opportunity when I found some spare time to take the Colnago off the iMagic trainer and ready it for the road. I subsequently dismantled the iMagic and put it neatly away for the ‘Summer’. Better still, I found that getting a later train gave me the option of a more civilised start to the day and even get out and do a 10-mile ride before work.
Today was to be my first early morning ride. Trouble is, I was woken up at 03:00 by rain hurling itself at my bedroom window. Bugger, I thought. I ain’t riding in that. I then lay awake for the next two hours waiting for my alarm to go off. Of course, had I not dismantled my trainer, I could have at least done a session in the garage.
So, guess what I’m doing at the weekend? That’s right: I’m unpacking the trainer and retaining the option to ride indoors (well, the garage). Hmphhhh.
Go Podge Go

40 Miles in the Saddle

Posted: November 1, 2011 in Cycling
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Yes, that’s right. Yesterday I managed 40 miles on the Turbo Trainer and felt good, really good. Last weeks total mileage was 62.31 which was up on the previous weeks of 44.66 (see Training Log). My plan is to continue with the Turbo through most of the winter with a few rides out on the road from December onward (weather permitting).

Property of Podgethepuffer. Unauthorised use is VERY naughty.

At the start of each of my sessions on the trainer, I have to decide how far I want to go and subsequently which route to take. Well, as I’ve been feeling so much better these days, I started looking at the Rome to Home Route I’m planning for my 60th Birthday. OK, I’ve only mapped two days at the moment but as I do each day, I create the routes and convert them into GPX files which can then be used by various applications including my trainer coupled to Google Earth. So, yesterday I started off from the the centre of Rome and headed west and then North up the coast. I now know that Day 1 will be an easy day , so thats good.

Anyway, as I said, I did the first 40 miles and felt really good at the end. My weight is dropping and my breathing is improving. I’m still getting older though. 😦

Go Podge Go