2021 Half Year Update
Go! No wait, stop! Okay…go! Thats pretty much how my time on the bike in 2021 has been so far! Frustrating, because as anyone that tries to take their training with a pinch of seriousness will know, consistency is the key.
Here’s how the year has gone so far and what I have planned for the rest of the year.
What’s been going on?
October 2020
Moved house. More space was needed. The kids are getting older and we were all on top of one another. So, October was spent boxing, packing lifting and shifting. Sadistically, I tried to convince myself it was like cross-training and that once it was all done and I was settled, I’d benefit from it all.
In some ways, I wasn’t wrong. I certainly ached for a week! Thankfully, though, through the house move, I gained a garage, which was duly allocated, by me, as the pain cave and where I spent the latter part of of October (and all of the utterly crappy British Winter) dropping weight, getting aquainted with Zwift once again and enjoying the convenience of racing from my own home.
That allowed me a great run-up to Christmas and through to 2021. I’m lighter, stronger and have a bigger appetite to ride that i’ve ever know. But something was still bothering me: work.
November 2020 - February 2021
I found myself a new job in November that wouldn’t start until February. Whilst I still worked hard during my notice period at the old job, naturally, It felt like a weight had been lifted and for a while I refocussed my efforts toward training again. I wasn’t going to break my back doing over time and I certainly wasn’t going to be working late, that’s for sure.
February 2021
New job started. Immediately busy! The super exciting pace of the new company, coupled with a rejuvinated sense of wanting to make a difference at a company meant I was putting in a big shift to get my wheels spinning. Those first 4 weeks or so where you’re still remembering names, codes, passwords, practises and routines are exhausting! The everyday things become concious effort again. The result? February was a slow month. 17 hours in the saddle with very few rides being more than an hour.
A smattering of Zwift races meant I was somewhat treading water and not going backwards, though.
March 2021
I picked things back up again in March. A new routine was being formed, I was getting familiar with my surroundings and working from home, meaning Zwift continued to be my go-to tool for getting some quality riding in. I ended a relatively uneventful March with 29 hours in the saddle, much of which was spent exploring some of the new roads on my new commute, too. Being back outside again felt good!
The plan for April was to ease up on the intensity a little bit and spend more time in the saddle to push the endurance…
April 2021
The first part of April was a continuation from March: good training volumes, good efforts, balance of work and life. But it was clear things were getting busier as I transitioned from onboarding to owning things at my new job. Very little Zwifting took place. Lots of sleeping and recovering.
May 2021
The good weather is here (almost), but time was not on my side! Work picked up big time. Lots of projects happening at once and a need to want to show that I am up to everything meant I pushed cycling to the back of my priorities. Lots of late nights at the office, lots of time spent riding directly home rather than extended training rides meant May ended with a poultry 19 hours in the bank.
June 2021
That’s now! We’re now already 6 months into the year and we’re 14 days into the month. We’re at almost exactly half way through the year. I’ve done a couple of centuries, I’ve joined the local Tuesday night chain gang again, had my first Zwift race win, as well as a couple of top 10 placings. I’m currently at 16 hours for the month and expect to be closer to 40 by the time I reach June 30th. Suffice to say, I’m back on track.
I’m currently looking for some Cat 3/4 races to enter to start getting some points onboard for the team. Seems with the uncertainty around COVID (looks like the lockdown easing has been pushed back by another 4 weeks), many of the crit series are either all delayed, or, just not widely advertised or listed. Even British Cycling’s Event Planner seems harder than usual to find an event on!
Cancellations
In 2019, all events were cancelled. Annoyingly, the inaugral Tour of Essex was canned entirely, rather than postponed. So, that’s not on the agenda for 2021.
I had hoped to do L’eTap Du Tour UK, but received notification to say that my 2019 entry (that was delayed to 2020) was again delayed to 2021).
I’m currently looking at The Tour of Cambridgeshire, hoping for The Redbull Timelapse 2021 and will no doubt do a couple of other sportives, just to add a couple of touristy medals to my growing collection.
I can foresee, right now at least, that much of the end-of-year look back will be about performances on Zwift than anything in real life, but still, with the number of amazing events now being put on, on Zwift, i’m excited to see how I can get better to achieve more in those events.
Outlook
So, whilst 2021 has so far been relatively uneventful on the bike, it’s been a busy one off the bike. I’m still hopeful I can achieve something of note this calendar year, whether it’s on the road or in Watopia.
