OneLifeiD // Just to be safe!

I was reading an article a couple of weeks ago in a cycling magazine while I was waiting in the physio's waiting room and an interesting article cought my attention. It was about a company who sells fully personalised wristbands that can be used in case accidents to identify the owner. After I finished the article I got very interested and ordered my OneLifeiD wristband on the same evening. 

 

Basicly the point is this: about 95% of the times I'm out on the bike on my own. I know it is not good, but normally I don't have iD on me. This and the fact that I can't be too careful guided me towards the decision to place my order and get one of these, I my opinion very useful wristbands. 

After about two weeks the parcel has landed

Nicely presented product indeed

The idea is very simple: there is this stainless steel plate on the silicone band. The plate has an engraved barcode and also personalised information (name, ICE number, blood type, ect...). The barcode is linked to a personal online profile that can be updated with necessary information (medical history, medicine allergy, ect...) In case of emergency the most important details are right there on the plate and also if you scan the barcode that online page pops up with additional information. 

Cool design, strong material, comfortable to wear and weather proof. What more can I ask for? 

The full kit

Getting the size right

The proper clasp makes it easy to put it on and to take it off

I think this is a great and simple way to have iD on me all the time when I'm out on the bike. I know people have different opinion about these things but the way I look at it is this: it's better to be safe than sorry. I just feel like it can only be good to have something like this in case of anything happens out there. But the best would be if it never gonna get used, if you know what I mean! :)

The Sally Gap broke me for the 1st time in 7 years...

Something has happened today that I did not see coming I have to say. Today's "mission" was to have a road spin over the Sally Gap before I get to work. Got up nice & early and left the house all hyped up about the fact I'm on the bike for the second time this week. 

Now, as we all seen today: the weather wasn't exactly cyclist friendly. Very strong headwind I got pretty much all the way out but things got pretty bad after I started to climb from the Loug Tay direction. As I was making my way up towards the Gap the weather has turned from bad to worst withing minutes. Got extremely strong side/head wind and got hit by this proper snow storm that was very heavy. Kept climbing but after I passed Lough Tay things got to the point when I just said that enough is enough. I'm not the type who just randomly turns back but I felt like I could get into trouble up there quiet easly 'cause the wind was throwing me so badly and most likely it would get even worst as I was making my way higher and higher up to the mountains...

So I turned back and finished my road spin on a bit safer route. Ended up doing a 3 hours long spin that I ok with anyway. Wasn't too happy about turning back but I think I made the right decision 'cause the Wicklow could be quiet rough at this time of the year. And I can only hope that I need to wait at least another 7 years before the Sally Gap or any other hill can break me like this again! :) 

 

Endura Pro Nemo Gloves // Simply the best so far!

Gloves have been always the most important piece of clothing related equipment to me since I'm having trouble with my hands and fingers during the cold(ish) winter spins. Have tried many different makes and models before and I'm happy to say that I found the best ones yet: Endura Pro Nemo neoprene gloves. 

I've picked up a pair about a month ago and have tested them in pretty much all weather conditions to see how good they are. Turns out very! :)

The most importtant thing to me is to keep my hands warm, don't mind if it's wet but it needs to stay warm as long as it's possible. 

The other thing that comes into count is how light & flexible they are because I don't like the big, rigid  gloves as they have very restricted flexibility. (That was one of my problem with my other pair of gloves from SealSkinz...they are not flexible enough to me...)

Product details

- super strech neoprene outer

- wicking terry inner

- silicone grip print palm

- reflective trim

- deep cuff

The neoprene fabrique works exactly the same as the wetsuits and diving suits: it lets the water in but the water seals the hands and the neoprene maintains the temperature keeping the hands nice and warm. Simple and perfect solution to me indeed! :)

Testing these bad boys in snow and the result surprised me: still warm even after 2 hours

So at this point I have to say that it was a great move to switch to them, no regrets whatsoever. They are ideal for both road & off-road spins, comfortable and very durable pair of gloves. Hoping to have them for a very long time! :)

My plans for the 2013 racing season

Well, it is end of January now, so it's time to start making plans for the year. I've been thinking about things for a while: what to do, what to keep as a priority, what to miss and all the rest. The thing is that I have about a ton of motivation but if I want to be realistic I gotta admit that I still don't spend enough time with training...so I'm trying to make time but it's isn't easy... But the plans are there, so let's see them:

My focus in 2013 will be on cyclocross instead of mountain biking. I want to race a full cross season, taking part in all the rounds of the series and get the best possible overall result. The main goal is to race well in the Cyclocross National Champs and get the best possible result there. But the Big Goal is to take part in the Three Peaks Cyclocross race over in the U.K. That is the big one for me, had my eyes on that one for a while.

On the mountain bike the I have two big plans. One would be to ride the 12 hours Bull Raid as a solo rider (I've done it as part of a 2 man team in 2011 ) and the other one is to ride the Wicklow Way in one day.

On the road the only thing that I can't miss is the Wicklow 200. I also would love to beat my own record on the Kilmashogue Lane, to get a double digit number would be sweet.  

The plans are here, nothing else to do but stick to the list and get most of it done. If I can race all these races and complete my parsonal goals I sure will be a very happy cyclist! :) 

Winter Wonderland // Threerock

Enjoying winter on the bike, needless to say too much about it! The pictures tell the tale! Enjoy! :)

Don't like it but it needs to be done

I'm sure we all know how important stretching is but I'm also sure so many people doesn't pay enough attention when it needs to be done. Unfortunately I'm one of them...I'm terrible when it's "stretching time" after training or racing...

But after the latest injury I've had it's time to think and take things more seriously about stretching. Basicly it has to be part of my every day routine from now on. Will not be easy 'cause it is really hard to force myself to do it and keep doing it frequently. But in the end of the day it needs to be done, so I guess that means I need to do it if I want to avoid injury in the future and if I want to increase the mobility of my left leg. So, watch out strethcing, here I come! :)    

Strava // It's all there from now on

I have been using Strava for a while but for some reason I haven't uploaded all my spins that I've been doing. I've been using Garmin Connect eversince I got my Edge 605 but I have to say: using Strava is definitely more tempting and more motivating for many reasons. So, as part of my bike related new years resolutions, from now on I will upload every single ride and training session to Strava. I also did like the idea to have a Strava feed integrated to the blog here, so I have that done also. It'll be on the right hand side panel and will display the 5 of the latest spins that I've been doing.

So, let's the stats hunt begin!! :)

Flatout Fridays # 2

Another hard and intense one hour I had this evening. Well, as flatout as it can be after the ankle trouble anyway. I took out the cross bike again but this time I've stayed on road for the whole duration of the spin. 

Tonight I just wanted something straight forward so the plan was to hit the N11 and cycle straight out on it as far as I can get in 30 minutes and then turn back and get back.

Milltown - Donnybrook - N11 - Cherrywood - N11 - Donnybrook - Milltown

The best news of the day was that the ankle feels perfectly fine! Happy with that! The ride was brilliant, loved the way the weather was pretty misty and the traffic wasn't too bad either. Normally I don't cycle on roads like the N11 but this time I really enjoyed it indeed! :)

The idea of these spins is be to go for an hour and give as much as I can in this time. So today I was out for 1 hour and covered the distance of 26,5 km with total elevation gain of 178 m and burned 688 calories. Was tough going but at least it did make me feel like I doing something! :)

... details of the spin on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/37168343

I did like this simple route this evening, so the plan is to do it again but next time I will try to get a bit furter! But first...

... I'm enjoying this lovely Italian style dinner! Bon appetit! :)

First spin of the new year // Back on the bike

After I've had a short break from cycling due to that ankle injury that I've picked up just before Christmas I managed to get out on the bike two days ago and get the first spin of 2013 done. Priority was to check out how the healing is coming along and see would I have trouble on the bike. The result has been positive: no pain whatsoever! Happy days!

The Dún Laoghaire Harbour is great at night, the city looks brilliant!

I teamed up with my old friend Csaba to cycle out to Dún Laoghaire and back. Nice and relaxed pace we have set and we had a good chat spiced up with tons of laughs during the 1 hour and 15 minutes spin. Was great feeling to ride the bike again and even better to know the ankle is definitely getting better. I still have to take it handy so I will have spins like this for the next two weeks or so, but after that I can hit the mountains again! Bring it on! :)

Dealing with ankle injury // Update & diagnosis

After bit more than a week I finally got checked out and got answers to my questions about this injury. Visited a very experienced and knowledgeable physio in Goatstown last night who got me the following diagnosis:

I have second degree ankle ligament injury (on the inside of my ankle) that isn't too serious but needs a good bit of a rest and a couple of deep tissue and ultrasound treatment sessions in the next few weeks.

So, this is not that bad after all, but the source of the problem is a bit more problematic. It turns out since I was born my right leg is 6 mm longer than my left one and because of that my left leg needs to compensate all the time. It doesn't cause trouble on the bike luckily but when I'm running it is a different ball game alltogether. Every time my left foot hits the ground the impact is a bit more than on the right one and with the tighter muscles and a sligthly restricted left ankle movement together it's causing me damage. Basicly it wasn't one big trauma, it was the repeated impact over time that caused this injury. Now, we can't do too much about this but avoiding running as part of my training routine because as I increase the distance or the time that I run it increases the chance of this type of injury in the future. And since I'm a cyclist I can sacrifice running in order to stay healthy and injury free. 

So, at this point I've been adised not to run for 4-6 weeks and not to ride off-road for 4 weeks (because of the impact that my ankles get while I'm out of the saddle). I can ride on the road after about 2 more weeks but of course I need to stay nice & easy on it. 

About the therapy that I need to do: I need to visit the physio 2-3 times more to get that untrasound and deep tissue treatment in order to get the ligaments healed up nicely. And in the future stretching needs be extremely important part of my life.

Well, I'm not gonna lie about this: I'm pissed off a bit of course...it's never good to pick up this kind of stuff. But I do what I need to do to get rid of this and to make sure I won't happen in the future. Will drop running pretty much all together and will find another alternative training besides the bike. But until then I need to have a couple of weeks "sports free" time...not gonna be easy I can tell you now...