In the Tribe!

Got this amazing gift from the stupendous one this morning. I feel like a real member of the Tribe now and will be easily identified by all my other brothers and sisters who live in the zone. I am always overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the gym family. Everybody always has time to offer advice and encouragement. Really are like one big happy family.

A great night was had in the Velodrome last night. Really getting a feel for both riding the fixed wheel bike and riding on the track. Really concentrated on my pace and speed control when in the bunch as I know that this will be an important part of Accreditation 3 when it comes along. You need to maintain a consistent and smooth pace to keep everybody together and make sure no big gaps appear especially when practicing changes on the banking. My partner in all things bike related paid me a compliment and said it was quite easy to follow my wheel on the track, this made me quite happy. Although, I made a bit of a mistake when I was out front the first time though. The coach had chastised a few people for putting the hammer down as soon as they saw daylight and being super conscious about this, I actually slowed down. A wee shout from behind from our cycling guru who comes to RPM classes with us and is a very knowledgeable person about all things two wheel related got my wee legs spinning again. Hopefully be able to get a spin out next again, practice makes perfect especially given that we were advised last night that the gap between Accreditation 2 and 3 is quite big. Got a good level of fitness, now just need to practice the skills.

I learnt yesterday that many tri-athletes go for a spin on their bike after a long run. If it's not raining tomorrow, I may ride up to meet my running buddy which will warm up my legs and then the ride home to loosen them off again. You have to go at a really gentle pace though and not push yourself past 50-60% of your maximum heart rate. Got plenty of time before having to get to the coalface plus cannot beat some extra miles on the bike and it will give the Ridgeback a raison d'être (although if it's raining, taking the car)