Author: 342days

In a previous post I’d already touched on some of my motivations… a few more thoughts.

Have you heard of Dan Lloyd? Dan is a former professional cyclist, and competed for several teams across the 2000s. Today, Dan is one of the main presenters on GCN and has also had stints on Eurosport/Discovery+.

Well, Dan has recently been on a mission to return to fitness (you can see lots more on the GCN YouTube channel); culminating in competing in, and successfully qualifying for, the World Gravel championships in his age group (which is coincidentally the same as mine).

Now, Dan clearly has the heritage and experience of being a pro, and frankly I’m sure some superior physiology and genetics, but nonetheless, it got me thinking…

Nice if not a little lethargic ride today, out nice and early and back to open some Father’s Day presents!

Another victory vs alarm clock; early start and a steady ride to get the weekend going. Sweaty going though.

Attempting to keep the heart rate below 150, but ended up spending my time split across zone 2 and 3.. I think that’s ok….

Brutal start – alarm at 5:30am; the snooze button beckoned.

But base ride one done; zwift call these foundation – and they focus on relatively low intensity rides (zone 2, although my heart rate was hitting 170bpm at times so definitely not easy):

Was more of a sweaty mess than I’d hoped – but a mini heatwave today didn’t help.

Onward – aiming for a long and steady ride tomorrow, weather and alarm clock permitting.

Enough chat and procrastination; let’s just get on with this.

The core of my training, at least to start, will be a combination of indoor (using Zwift) for more structured rides; coupled with one or two longer, outdoor rides.. time permitting.

Life and work are busy; so I need to find an efficient plan where I get the greatest bang for buck for the time I can commit. So of course I asked ChatGPT for a suggested training plan.. here it is:

1. Base Phase (12–16 weeks)

Goal: Build aerobic endurance and muscular durability. Focus: 2 endurance rides per week (Z2, 60–90 min). 1 tempo or sweet spot workout (e.g., 3×10–15 min @ 85–90% FTP). Optional: Short recovery ride or skills ride if time allows.

2. Build Phase (12 weeks)

Goal: Increase FTP, introduce climbing and race-like efforts. Focus: Sweet spot & threshold intervals (e.g., 2×20 min @ 90–95% FTP). Low-cadence climbing intervals (seated, 50–60 RPM, 5–8 min). Introduce race pace segments (hard, sustained efforts on gravel if possible). Keep 1 longer Z2 ride per week.

3. Specialty/Race Prep Phase (8–10 weeks)

Goal: Prepare for specific demands of your target event. Focus: Longer rides with race-like terrain and intensity. Back-to-back days if possible (simulate fatigue). VO2max workouts for top-end power. Practice fueling, bike handling, pacing

So no time like the present. We begin tomorrow morning. Enter the ‘base’ phase.

Fun start to the day.

FTP currently at 216 watts, which based on my current weight of 75kg would in theory mean I’m able to sustain just under 2.9 watts/kg for an hour.

Now, I’m not sure how accurate these tests are vs doing a full 1 hour time trial style test.. but you’ve got to believe that Zwift have enough data to give a fairly decent estimate based on a pretty short effort.

For the record, I quit fairly early in the 300 watt minute; apparently it’s the final minute of activity which really counts when determining FTP.

I’m planning on retesting – using the same ramp test – every 8 weeks or so.

As a reminder, I’d love to get my FTP towards 300 watts, but I suspect that is probably out of reach; but let’s say I do, and I also reduce my weight to 70kg (I’ll talk more about weight and diet another time); here are a few possible outcomes:

• Stretch target: 70kg, 300w FTP = 4.3w/kg (48% improvement)
• Target: 72kg, 280w FTP = 3.9w/kg (34% improvement)
• Low end/minimum: 72kg, 260w FTP = 3.6w/kg (24% improvement)
• And if I just lost weight but didn’t improve my fitness: 70kg, 216w FTP = 3.1w/kg (7% improvement)

Just looking at those figures, particularly comparing the first two.. for what is a relatively small weight reduction and modest power improvement, the FTP per kg looks pretty material… maybe that’s some additional stretch motivation to go the extra mile.

In the world of cycling, one of – if not the – most ubiquitous means of determining ‘cycling fitness’ is FTP (functional threshold power); and refers to the maximum power a cyclist is able to sustain for a period of time (typically an hour).

If you’re interested in knowing more, there are plenty of resources available, but this is a good place to start.

I’ll be doing a lot of my training on an indoor trainer, using Zwift (an online, virtual platform/world where you can compete in races, join group rides or follow structured training plans); An accurate FTP is an important factor when working out training zones and optimising effort for maximum gains.

I’ll talk a bit more about my indoor training setup in another post, but tomorrow morning I’ll be putting myself through a ‘ramp test’ – which is one of the ways Zwift allows you to get a pretty decent estimate of your FTP. A ramp test is typically done over around 20 mins, with the effort increasing every minute – and you go until exhaustion… can’t say I’m looking forward to it but I’ll report back tomorrow.

I’m expecting my FTP to currently sit around a fairly mediocre 200 watts… by my reckoning – to be competitive in a race – I need that to be somewhere around 280-300 watts.. so around a 40-50% improvement.

Now, that’s definitely at the (very) high end of what’s possible – but assuming my current fitness is pretty low I’m hopeful there’s some low hanging fruit to make some significant gains in the short term. Well, here’s hoping.

Wish me luck.

I’ve been reflecting on what topics to cover in future posts; whilst the golden thread throughout will be my personal journey to the Gralloch, I’m keen to explore some broader aspects too – from mental health, diet and parenting, to holidays, village life and careers. So pretty much anything which comes to mind – but I hope that, regardless who (if anyone) reads this, it will act as an outlet, and a form of therapy, for me – especially when things feel tough.

I did manage to drag myself out for a run this morning – just 4 miles and the legs are feeling it… but it did leave me with a feeling of smugness (with a dose of sleepiness) for the rest of the day.

It’s late and I’m off to bed; where I’ll be contemplating how on earth I’m going to fit in 10hrs of training each week…. 😱

I’m not sure.

I’m an all or nothing sort of person.

But once the initial energy, enthusiasm and excitement of a new idea is waning, I get bored. I move on. Hopefully this time it will be different.

And I need something to focus on, something to commit to. And that’s part of the reason for capturing it all here – it makes it that bit harder to move on.

So this is day one. Over the next few days I’ll share a bit more about me, my motives, and my life – to help you build up a bit more of a picture about me.

To get things started, here are the basics..

• 40 something yrs old
• Live in Hertfordshire
• Married with two beautiful girls
• Work for a large UK business – largely from home in my converted shed (more on that later)
• For all you cyclists out there, FTP around 200 (test to follow soon)
• Weight 75kg.. ish