Training

Weight is important, the nutrition is vital, but both of those are dwarfed by the obvious point of training. Sadly nothing else will get you down those long miles or up those big climbs.

As I've said, I've done this before and the 2010 plan is very similar to the 2009 one. Lay out all the weekends in the year on a spreadsheet, put the main goal at the bottom, various milestones along the way (e.g. the Fred Whitton, entry depending of course) and work backwards to get where you need to be.

There will be one key difference though. This year all I did was cycle, nothing else at all. This was a conscious decision because I really was worried about the goals coming up (The Fred is a bit steep, and Ventoux is a bit long). The advantage of having done it once is that I now know I can, so next year in addition to all the cycling I will be doing one class each (per week) of body pump and body balance. Body pump is a weights based class, and maintaining some muscle (you can't really bulk up doing high rep weights) is good even for cyclists, plus of course it includes work on the core (abs / back). Body balance is a blend of yogo / pilates and other stretchy stuff, plus more core work. This is absolutely vital for cyclists and I cannot stress the importance of core work enough. After 7 months of riding this year my lower back really was a horrible mess, despite stretching after every ride. So this year the extra stuff is in, and hopefully it will make a nice change.

While I do have a very detailed plan, the general idea is this:

Every week - 6 spinning classes in the gym (2 * 45 minutes, 3 times).
Every week - 1 body pump class, 1 body balance class.

December - anything is a bonus.
January - indoor trainer work to burn fat and build endurance (2 hours each Sat & Sun building to 3 hours).
February - Outdoor Saturday ride building to 70 miles by end of month, Sunday easy 30 miles.
March - Saturday ride building to fairly hilly 100 miles, Sunday easy 42 miles. Easy weekend at end of month (30 miles each day). Oh and a week snowboarding too I hope!
April - Saturday ride building to very hilly 120 miles, other details yet to be confirmed.
May - Hopefully The Fred, then alternating shorter weekends (80 + 50 miles) with big ride (hilly 120).
June - One massive hilly ride (130 miles), shorter weekend (80 + 50), Dave Lloyd Mega, then very easy weekend.
July - The Marmotte!

Sounds so easy when I say it like that…

The one thing everyone knows about plans (or should know) is that they change. Constantly, and quite right too. I can't see the future and don't know exactly how it will turn out. If I'm really lucky I'll pick things up quicker and can bring some training forward. If not I will just amend it as required. But you (and when I say "you" I mean "me") need somewhere to start from, some idea that you will gradually build to where you need to be. And for me this is it.