W̶a̶t̶t̶ ̶B̶i̶k̶e̶ Pain Bike Session review - 8th January 2014 - 20:00h!
W̶a̶t̶t̶ ̶B̶i̶k̶e̶ Pain Bike Session review - 8th January 2014 - 20:00h!
19:30 - The final group of the day slowly turned up sporting various mixed cycling and normal attire. From iDubs roaming around in his cleats, lycra shorts and puffer jacket, to me in full skin suit and traditional cotton cap.
19:45 - Five nervous looking men waited patiently, stretching and wondering what we had let ourselves in for. We were also pondering where puncture Pete was, looks like he will have to catch up next week!
19:50 - The countdown was on. The last sips of coffee being taken, before the assorted coats and jackets came off. Game face on.
19:55 - Toddy and Luke came out to see who awaited the cave of pain. We were greeted by the previous session who were just leaving. They were smiling, chatting and looking like they had enjoyed themselves. Great stuff, we all thought.
20:00 - After some quick introductions, and most importantly the setting up of the connection between the Garmin and the W̶a̶t̶t̶ ̶B̶i̶k̶e̶ Pain Bike, we were quickly under-way and into the warm up.
20:10 - Toddy and Luke were explaining how todays session would work. A warm up of about 15 minutes, followed by three super fast sprints before we all did the important 3 minute test. Having done this before I knew the intense pain I was about to go though, I'm not sure the others did though!
20:25 - Warp up complete, we set off into the first of three sprints. Looking over at Russ I could see his towel being used to full effect for the sweat that was pouring from him, and over my shoulder Mr Dorney was also looking very hot and sweaty. Apologies to the Rapha clad gentleman behind me, I didn't quite see how you were doing!
20:30 - Feeling very warmed up, we did a 1 minute 'test' of the 3 minute test we were going to be doing. Not wanting to over do it, I worked to a pace I knew I wanted to target and quickly got back to recovery mode so I didn't waste any energy.
20:35 - Machines all set up, on Toddy's word we all entered 3 minutes of torture. I was too focussed on my output to catch the others, but Luke was doing a fantastic job at shouting and screaming at me to keep on going (I had requested this at the start!).
20:36 - One minute down, two to go. On target, legs feeling okay. Luke's shouting at level 3/10.
20:37 - Two minutes down, one excutiating minute to go. Legs sceaming at me, Luke sceaming at me, I was screaming at myself! 30 seconds... On target... 20 seconds... On target... 10 seconds... Out of the saddle for that final push! And relax....!
20:38 - Head down, I was done. The pain coming from my legs was over. Well done legs. My heart pounding, my face full of joy. 'Keep your head down James' I tell myself. And breathe.
20:40 - I regain some sort of awareness of what's going on around me, and continue to spin my legs in recovery mode. 10 minutes of this and I'm done.
20:45 - The others begin to do some zone work based on their 3 minute tests, I bail having given every last bit. These legs weren't giving out any more watts tonight.
20:50 - Into the Flying Squirrel cafe. Recovery shake, lots of water and I could relax. Job done!
A massive thank you to Toddy and Luke for a fantastic evening. The programme looks great and I couldn't recommend it more. The great thing about the programme is that you can do them at your own pace. You could be sat at 150 watts, while the person next to you is pushing out 360 watts, and it doesn't matter. Its all built around you and what you want to do. Top work guys!
Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings!
James Middleton