Sunday 11 April 2010

April 14, 2010
Bloody hell it's been a long time, but I finally managed to get back on my training bike last weekend.  1 hour with no wind and then 2.5 hours back directly in a nasty headwind.  There were a few take aways from this training ride:

(i) need to fix my back brake; very sticky, obviously neglected in my garage in the summer and needs severe re-lubrication.
(ii) I need to get used to my new gears : i changed from a triple to a compact and felt my legs on the small climbs I did
(ii) last one: I am so lucky to live where I do - my ride took me on the following route (I'll try to upload from my Garmin): Cessy, Chevry, Flies, Crozet, Sergy, St Jean, Challex, Dardagny, Russin, Verbois, Meyrin, Mategnin, Prevessin, Segny and back home: wonderful...I love this place!!

Back outside on the bike after a lot of painful (read  boring) evenings and mornings on the turbo...c'est parti!!

Only 81 days to go! 

Posted by Ally Bainton. Posted In : training 

 

Sunday 7 June : tour du lac leman

June 8, 2009

The day started quite bizarrely, Nico arriving at my house fully dressed in civvies under blue skies.  by the time i had nipped into the house to fill a bidon, he had transformed into a quientessential french cyclist: patisserie bag bulging.  there was as short debate about clothes to wear or not wear, both deciding better to be warm than cold; fitted nico's pedals onto "old faithful" and off we went down to bellevue.

 

Finally, on nico's first outing, we all managed to have a similar wardr...


Continue reading...

Posted by Ally Bainton. Posted In : training 

 

Well, I did ask...

March 12, 2009
As I write this post, I notice the title of my previous post "when is spring coming?".  Since then the temperature has risen by a few degrees, the sun is shining more each day and the plants are slowly coming to life.  Even better, Paris - Nice is on the telly and this really means the cycling season is starting.

I am now officially sick and tired of the turbo trainer.  Yeah, it's nice to watch TV while you ride, everything at hand, change music, towel, fan..all great...BUT.  With the temp...

Continue reading...

Posted by Ally Bainton. Posted In : training 

 

When is spring coming?

March 5, 2009
The last couple of weeks have been pretty productive on the indoor training front, plenty of interval training, one leg training, threshold heart rate training, but, in my opinion, you just can't beat cycling outside.  Yes, it's its great to be on the turbo trainer, close eye on your heart rate, easy to control the resistance, time your intervals to the second, get a fresh bottle of water or towel just when you need it, but I CANNOT wait to get outside and feel the fresh air in my face. 

Admi...
Continue reading...

Posted by Ally Bainton. Posted In : training 

 

How guilty should I feel??

February 23, 2009
Well after that burst of enthusiasm with the first post, I let myself down by waiting two weeks for this, my second post...

In the meantime, I had a few (pre-holiday) crazy days at work, a one week family holiday (brilliant, but did not take my bike and the bikes in the hotel gym were...mmm...basic)  and then another few (post-holiday) crazy days at work, intermingled with a weekend on the ski slopes with my kids. 

This therefore brings me to a question: how guilty should you feel when you eit...
Continue reading...

Posted by Ally Bainton. Posted In : training 

 

Finally got over serious procrastination...

February 8, 2009
Welcome to my blog!

I presume that by landing on this page, you may know what the étape du tour is. 

If not, let me try to describe it to you in as few words as possible: it is a wonderful cycling event whereby more than 8,000 amateur cyclists of varying abilities take on a real stage of the tour de france a few days before the professional cyclists ride through.  There are all the important trimmings of the real tour - directions, spectators, technical support, the dreaded broom wagon (a van...
Continue reading...

Posted by Ally Bainton. Posted In : General 

 

Sunday Cyclist


I'm a keen (very) amateur sportsman - football, tennis, running and cycling are my main sports but really I'll try anything. I am Scottish but have lived abroad for 10 years now and my family and I are now settled in the Geneva area. I continually struggle to balance my sporting exploits with my day job and my family commitments. This year will be my second étape du tour, so i'm using this blog to try and share my (woeful) knowledge to help you get over the finish line.

Recent Posts