Badgers, Gorilla's and Garmin

Oh you handsome badger...

Started the week with a cycle commute. On the way to work I saw the sun rise. On the return from work I saw the sun set. Lovely.

Tuesday was a nice day too. In the evening, a pedal with Ron (the Phantom) took place. Hadn't cycled in the evening with Ron for so long. It was great to catch up. We cycled a reverse 'Deer Route'.

Wednesday was another commute cycle affair. That feeling of annoyance when you leave work, only to return, because one has forgotten their keys. Grr!

Only one further cycle took place, and that was Friday night. After work, I cycled to the Gorilla cafe in Kings Heath to meet a couple of monkeys. Jamie and Trev were already there as I rocked up. The plan was simple - listen to a cycle coach / Dr give a lecture on training whilst drinking beer. The beer was toxic - 'Badger', I believe. Nice tasting stuff, ginger aroma, 5.2%. My head didn't thank me the following day. From the lecture, I learn't that I should focus on my weaknesses (climbing, sprinting, endurance, recovery). The best advice really, was that I need to complete back to back rides if TAW is going to be my goal (which it is). I know I'd also benefit from a better core, eating healthier and weight training but I'm a Doo and Doo's don't do what they should do. The lecture ended, 3 Badgers later, and an interesting cycle home was had. It was dark and a few comfort breaks were required...

Doo, Mac, Trev

Over the weekend, I played around with plan's for TAW. Sadly, my Garmin had issues with large files and kept going wonky. The Garmin would cease to work and hard re-sets had to follow. Most annoying. RidewithGPS was proving menace too. Then I purchased a months subscription and all was fine and dandy again. I now have a daily schedule prepared for Jamie and I.

Day, distance, climb, hmmm

The Master Plan

Completed schedule with GPX files (all safely downloaded onto Garmin). Better yet, I have maps and now daily distances and hilliness profile including the climbing figures too. Also plotted and booked is accommodation (nearly alternate days) in hostels along the way (the other days will be wild camps). As can be seen by my prep notes above, we plan to cycle over 200k most days and one day has over 2,800m of ascent.

TAW, argh, only 30 weeks away. I think Jamie may have had too many badgers - he sent me a text stating 'coach said start training 6 weeks before, 24 weeks of partying!!'. Hmmm.