Looking for the climbing legs..

I had a quiet weekend when it comes to riding.. I did not ride much.. All I did was was this ride where I was curious to see how fast I could do it and what kind of power I could produce while at it..

So FTP territory right? But please tell me... FTP means??  I came up with my own definition.. F*ck That Pablo..!! But what did I actually did??

I headed out on Saturday without much of a clue on what I wanted to do.. Then I run into a guy I know that was doing this loop I know where I can push a bit since is rolling terrain for a bit over the first half... Here is where I wanted to test my legs and power... The result??? 240W... Not a big number... But a number to work with from now on.. The ride? Strava says.... This are rolling terrains..

Today?? I went looking for my climbing legs...

My playground for the day looked like this..

And I was riding with this guy...

And we did this ride... not bad for a Tuesday... If you are too lazy to click on the link it says 52 km and over 1000 meters of climbing in two hours...

So That was it for today... See you next time..Thanks for reading and sharing..

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

One more off road adventure!

Yesterday I started exploring the dirt routes around here... Now when I say dirt is dirt, gravel, sand or whatever the terrain looks like...
Today's adventure was lots of big rocks... The kind that makes your wheel jumps all over the road or trail... Want to see what I am talking about??

At the start of my off road trip..

I know for your skills this might be nothing but for mine they were horrific boulders coming at me... At this point I got scared.. Put a foot down and lost grip so great opportunity to take a picture right??

Here was the turn around point.... Too many too big rocks..Loose rocks.. Many big loose rocks for the CX wheels to handle and not to mention my abilities off road... And it was steep..!! And hot !!! And I could hear dogs barking in the distance.. I was scared.. I turned around..

Someone that knows this route told me that behind that next bend on the trail it gets worst so good thing I turned when I did..

Here is one more image that kind  of work as a signature of me riding into the unknown  trails...

You have no idea how happy I was when I reached the pavement again....!!! But that is the beauty of a CX bike.. You can venture off road for a bit as long as you don't mind walking in the very technical bits.. Me personally I don't mind at all... I like to be back home in one piece..!

The way back home...

 And that's all for today boys and girls... Thanks for reading it..See you next time..

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

CXing around...

Story short? My CX bike is finally here!! Actually been here for a few weeks already but I couldn't get to go out and play with it.. That said.... Today I did it..!!!!

Visit a sanctuary that is not very far from home... And is at the top of a hill..

At the top of the hill there is like a whole ghost tow... this comes alive for a week a year when everyone goes up there to visit the virgin..

At the church... I am not a big believer but I said thanks for what I got and asked for a job that fits me.. (if you are going to ask ask right..Right?)

A fancy view of a cobbled stairs... They were rough to ride...

That was the first part of my ride... I got to the Ermita" via the paved road... I knew there was another way up so I started looking for it on my way back...

Guess what? Found it..!! And also the first dismount and picture shooting opportunity.. Back wheel kept sliding.. And I played it safe. Can you see the bike??

Found a little cobbled bridge that made for nice pictures before the climb started..

The CrossRip is great for this rough cobbles..! Thanks +Trek Bicycle

Almost at the top I stopped to breath and look at my surroundings.. Great ones by the way..

I could see the church again from the other side... A little more climbing..

Last switchback before the top..!!!

Remember the cobbled stairs? Well from the bottom now..

And it was time to head home... Sign says 3.9 km to it... I stayed close by today..!

I still managed to hit another 2 climbs on my way home but nothing worth taking a picture.. By the time I got home +Strava said 18 km and 570 meters done..

Thanks for reading and see you next time..!

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

Last week(end) all together..

I been a bit down when it comes to writing, As you can see I also stopped promoting the blog as much as I used.. Would you like to know why? Short story is that Adsense kicked me out of their program and I am not making any money with this anymore...Not that £30 was a lot in 3 months..

But here I would try to show you where I was last week(end) with some pictures and links to the different routes I been doing...

Lets get started..!!!!

Monday: Recovery ride with Katja

This ride has absolutely nothing to do with distance, epic routes or breathtaking views... This ride was all about the company....

That is my wife joining me for a ride after almost a year of not touching the bike... She felt horrible and had to dismount a few times to make it up the hills but she got out and that is the best part... Is great to still be able to share something else then raising the kids with your best friend and partner..

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent looking for jobs and doing house work... I bet you don't want to see me cooking and cleaning floor or doing dishes so I am not going to post pictures of that...

Thursday: 150...80....and 38 C

What all those numbers mean? Hold on I am getting there... As you already know by now I am a heavy bike rider (trying to be a cyclist) and as everyone else with my body type I tend to smash the pedals when riding.. So I set out with the idea of trying to improve on my cadence... I normally do an average of 70 to 80 rpm's and I was trying to hold 80 or more for most of the ride... That is the 80 number.

150? that was what I was trying to hold my heart rate at... Not letting it go above by much most of the time since it was a bit hard to breath... I am getting over a cold and I heard a million times that is not good to push to hard when you are sick or getting over a virus.. So that is the 150 number story.

38 C? That one kind of explains itself right|? I mean that was the temperature when I got home after the ride... Yes it was hot.. Yes is not even Summer here and I am already dealing with this temps.. Will be fun when August gets here.. So lets say I am training for the hot days to come... 38 celcius is 100 F for those that don't want to look it up....

And what did I do this day? Strava link says 60 km with 800 meters of climbing.. Oh and I did manage to hold the numbers..!

Prove of the heat?

Some publicity there for +Garmin

Friday: Power(less)

After Thursday's ride I wanted to ride up the hill a bit more and see if my cadence was any different from previous efforts... So I headed out for the hills... I would say that took about 10 pedal strokes to realized that I was out for a looong ride since I felt absolutely empty and had no power to turn the pedals.... A normal person feeling that way would turn around and head home... Me? Well I am not normal...

So as I was starting to climb the first real climb of the day.. Sorry second climb of the day I saw a couple riding in the distance... Here I was still trying to maintain a high cadence and I realized that it was a matter of time before I caught up with them.. So I kept an eye on them... Took me like 10 minutes at my own pace to first catch up with the lady.... And then I caught up with the husband (I talked for a bit with the lady before passing her) He was having a similar pace to mine so we talked on and off for a while...

For my surprise they were from Portadown in +Northern Ireland Tourist Board and you know I lived there for a while so we were talking about the green island for a while and different places before each one went on their own directions... Cycling open the doors of so many places..!!

What did I do riding ways?? Strava says 51 km and 1000 meters of climbing....

Pics?

My trusty +Trek Bicycle looking over +Mijas Pueblo España

Saturday: Beach with the family!! 

I am a family man and I promised the kids and wife we would go to a place called +Estepona Malaga for some exploring of the local beaches... So after using +Google Maps for a while we discover or this beach called Playa del Cristo...

We got there before noon and set up our area with towels, umbrella, cooler with food (we never go anywhere without food) cool drinks for us and then was relax time..!!!

Water in the Mediterranean was cold but I still managed to swim on and off for over an hour...Felix we had to pull him out of the water every time we saw his lips getting blue.. Kids..!!!

And this was a great opportunity to work on my cycling tan...

Note: this was our first time swimming in the Mediterranean sea.. 2 things that caught my attention.. ! the water is has higher levels of salt compared to the Atlantic... 2- Damn is cold for a place that is almost never cold..!

Sunday: Climbing with Frisco and Antonio

As the title says we headed for the hills... You saw me riding this ones before but is always nicer to do it with someone else..

Some pictures of our adventure?

Antonio having a bad day.. (thanks God he was!!!)

Frisco having a normal day... Actually waiting for us while going up... I was in between these 2 pictures.. (top and bottom)

Then reaching the top I "sprinted" (can't say this with a straight face) to snap some shots..

Frisco first..

Antonio's turn...

Then was the second climb of the day... Frisco got bored of us...

Antonio wasn't too far behind him....

And me? Forget it..!!! I will enjoy the view....

By the end of the day Strava said we did 83 km and 1600 meters of climbing... No bad for a fat guy.

So that was my week(end)... Thanks for reading..!!! Thanks for sharing..!!! See you next time..!!

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

Went out to test the legs after Friday....

So after a big effort on Friday I took Saturday off to see if the body could come around... I seriously felt like poop at the end of the ride Friday and I wasn't much better on Saturday all day... But it was time to see if the legs wanted to do some work on Sunday..

What the day looked like???

It took like 40 km for the legs to come around.. But then they were OK.. I could even sprint at times to get ahead of the bunch... (and snap a picture or two)

Well they were OK till we got to the first and only big climb of the day... At the start of it...

5 minutes later the legs told me to F**** off and quit working... As you can see my friends getting smaller in the distance...

After that last climb we got into downhills and rolling terrain... And that felt great for my legs.. I could stay at the front and sprint up the little bumps to take pictures... Great weather..!

I took over the front till we got to Coín by then +Strava said we did 96 km and 1375 meters of elevation and we were ready for some refreshments..

Seems like I finally starting to ride a little more often and I got over 2000 km for the year..!!! Slow compared to other years but little by little..

On the +Giro d'Italia climbing challenge? Well out of 83.000+ people I am at 12.000 so is not that bad... Have 12 days to climb like 15000 meters..!!! (not going to happen..!!!)

Hope you enjoy and share the reading 

One day I might have you as a guest here in Málaga...

See you all next time...!

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

P.S: I am already starting to study the way to start the B&B and cycling guiding tours..

One more for the Giro challenge

I was out by 10 am after dropping Felix ( my son to school) had no time to get back since he was having a play date so that means no rush getting back..

But what to do? Where to go? So I wanted a calm and easy climb.. As calm goes this climb was calm.. Now as easy goes.... Well wasn't all that easy... Maybe the first time up but when you are doing repeats the story changes...

I picked the Juanar as my playground of the day.. is a 5 km or so climb that finish at a hotel on the top of the mountain.. a Nice calm climb.. Looked like this..

The views are great and you can really enjoy this climb because the traffic is very little.. During all the time I spent going up and down I maybe saw 10 cars... And when you get to the top is this hotel..

Coming down from it you have to be careful.. Is little traffic but you never know what could be around the switchbacks..

My second trip up? Oh yes.. I went up again... I saw this sign.. That told me I was 3 km away from my second summit.. I believe is one at the start of the climb as well..

This guy spooked me as he flew by me..! (skinny young bastard!!!)

I even went off road a little...(nature break) but the view was really peaceful

On my third time up to the Juanar I was too busy trying not to collapse to take pictures.. Went I got to the top I ate and drank everything I got before I head down.. After this time I was bored and not feeling like another trip up the mountain..

From here I headed in Marbellas direction... That is the opposite side of my house.. So a bit more riding before heading home...
That part of the ride is great and mostly downhill... Really fast and in between traffic... If you do this please take it easy since there is a cross wind coming from the ocean that can scare you a bit if distracted...
Well I wasn't planning to get to Marbella so in the exit to Ojen I got out of the main route and into the little town before my final big climb of the day... I felt like I was going backwards here.. 6 km/h 7..8... Almost never double digits.. Painful experience but the views totally worth it..!!!

And they were quiet as well.. Those rock walls are impressive..!

The ramps were progressing the wrong way for my legs... But they still looked great...

That was my morning ride.. And the +Strava file if you want to look at it is HERE

On the second part of the day I did a group ride where I didn't take many pictures because I was fighting with my legs to keep turning the pedals.. It was a pain fest.. Well actually I was not in pain but there was no strength in my legs and I could see my companions disappear any time that the route went up..

So the only nice picture of the day was when we run into local traffic...

Unfortunately my GPS decided not to record this ride that was another 75 km and around 1000 meters of climbing... I am still trying to get the file from some of the other guys... That by the way thanks to the guys for waiting for me in every bump of the route...

Thanks for reading and sharing

Stay tuned because I am planning to start the guide business soon..

See you next time..

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

My Giro climbing challenge experience..

As a cyclist a lot of times we sign up for stupid hard challenges.. Like is very fun to push our self beyond the common understanding of our partners or non-cycling friends...

How many times you got a "I don't even drive that far!" "How long were you out there?" And many other ones that only another cyclist can understand...

Well this time is no different.. What did I sign for? Not much really but I am sure you heard about the +Giro d'Italia  and +Strava right? Well did you see what they came up with? Let me show you..

That is a lot of climbing..!!! In a normal month I climb around 10.000 meters sometimes more sometimes less but always around that number.. (lately I do less then that) And now I went and sign for this..!!!??? That is double the amount of climbing I do in a month and I am trying to do it in 23 days..? Oh well is worth trying... Right?

So next time you are reading around the web and see this logo:

Make sure you stop by and see what that crazy cycling friend is doing this time around... Don't forget to give them Kudos..!!!

And for me? Well is going this way so far...

DAY 1: Rained..! And I mean there were rivers in the streets..!!! So.. No riding for me.

DAY 2: Now we are talking..! 1490 meters at least I am moving..! 

DAY 3: Rained all day again..! I see a lot of hill repeats this week...

DAY 4: Rained.. Had to pick up the kid from school and make dinner... Big fat "0" again..

DAY 5: Seriously? Rained again! I see my chances getting smaller by the day..

DAY 6: Finally stopped raining..! Add a little 706 meters maybe I can get out again later???

So I went and hit the local climbs.. And one not so local but I wanted to get away from the same street... Not bad for a day 6 with drizzle to start but some nice sunshine to the end.. Maybe I can get some more riding in if it doesn't start raining again..

DAY 7: FFS...!!! I thought I moved out of Belfast..!!! It rained again..! Tomorrow is suppose to stop raining.. Charging the camera and the GPS for the day ahead..!

And after a nice ride... was time to have a refreshing drink..

And that was my day 1, I mean 2 but really 1... You know what I mean right? 

Stay tuned for updates on the matter... 

Hope you enjoyed day 2 and see you next time with an update..!

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

Are you ready for the Giro?

For the last couple of years a groups of internet friends and I been running a game that we call Predictors Game... Here we test our knowledge and luck against each other in a friendly way trying to predict the outcome of different races during the year..

So this time we are going, actually we started already running the game with our eyes on the first grand tour of the year... +Giro d'Italia !!! The first stage is this May 6th..!! That is...

Image via Giro di Italia +Twitter account. (thank you!!)

So you want to know what is this about? OK.. Here it goes..!!!

Alora, it's time for the Giro, arguably the craziest and most UN-predictable of the Grand Tours. Loaded with sprint stages, TT's and transitional stages as well as the usual super high snow filled MTFs it will sure to be a fun filled, exciting race. Are you suffering worse than Scarponi-face in VDS? Need a Ferrari-style boost to your ratings? Is your team descending faster than a Shark from Messina? Do you have what it takes to take PINK! Then you need to play the Predictor Game...yet another way to beat ourselves up over our love of cycling!

If you have not played before read below and feel free to play along. It’s really fun and gets you even more into the race! We have a spreadsheet with graphs, etc that you can view at any time and we will post a link to it in the fanpost for each stage. It is a great tool to see the popularity of riders and results. It is also good to double check your picks as we have been known to make keying errors. For actual race info we find cyclingquotes.com previews pretty good!

Rules

In this game, only the stage results matter. You're not committed to keeping the same riders throughout the race, you make fresh picks before every stage. Our overall competition is a combined total of all 21 individual stage scores. You're eligible for the overall even if you miss some stages.

Pick 4 riders for the upcoming stage. The order of your picks doesn't matter. All of your riders can score.

Riders score points down to 10th place. Less popular riders score more points than heavily-picked favorites. See below for scoring details.

The strict entry deadline is the official start time of the stage, the neutralized rollout or Départ Fictif. Be warned - if your post is timestamped one minute late your entry won't count! So do remember that there's no disadvantage to getting an entry in early, even the day before, because you may always change your picks up until the deadline. Feel free to rethink your picks when it emerges which riders are more or less popular with other players. If you make changes, post your revised 4 picks in a reply to your original post.

Try to enter just the last name of the person...Cancellara not Cance for example. And Izagirre I or Costa R. It helps us with the data entry into the spreadsheet.

Scoring

Forgot to mention..!!!

The last 3 stages will be secret entry between the top contenders… To avoid defensive picking..

When we say top contenders we leave the number open because who knows how many will be within striking distance...wooley7 scored the win in the Classics with a long range suicide attack in Liege so you can never count yourself out...NEVER!

We will notify you by email if we need you to do a secret entry.

Results:

We will try and post results in a timely fashion as soon after each stage as possible. However we are all busy so will just do our best there. We will post them along with a post for the next stage.

And if you want to check your entries and results:

Our spreadsheet master msbee created: THIS

Good luck, invite your friends and ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!

Post your entry for the first stage below!

Special thanks to all the hands around the world that make this game possible.

So what do you think? Are you ready for it? Do you have what it takes? If you think so and want to become part of one of the best cycling communities online please stop by at Podium Café and join us..!!!

We are taking picks for Stage 1 already..!

Hope to see you over there..! or over here..!

Thanks for reading and stay in touch for daily updates on the Giro PG competition..!

P.S: if you know someone that might be interested in this sort of game feel free to share 

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy