Life is not a Practice

I had taken a day off work today and the sun was shining so I went out for a ride on the race bike. Up the Ellegg and home via Faistenoy.



31km with 436 meters of climbing
Track at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=xxhmgdzwgjgahzjy

a tablet PC, 2 pairs of boots, 2 cases, 2 rucsacs, 2 bikes and 2 pairs of skis.

A relaxed November bike ride through Tannheimertal. In the sun it was beautiful. Downhill in the shadows it was very cold. Going down the valley back in to Germany, it was absolutely freezing.



51km with 670 meters of climbing
Track at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mdmtgfrrmeojerrc

Photos at https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103827427036815679772/albums/6050786238514201409?authkey=CM6y9qnHhfj9mAE

All summer Max has been wanting to cycle up the Grünten. Tomorrow he is skiing ( maxhogarth.blogspot.de/2014/11/stubai-glacier.html ) and next week diving so we went today.



we cycled up the incredibly steep "front side" to the Grüntenhütte and then across the shoulder and through the snow down to the Roßbergalpe. A cheese sandwich and two beers later we cycled back down and home.

43km with over 1000 mters of climbing (most of it in one go).
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=ohazxqigmqeelmhh

Photos at https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103827427036815679772/albums/6050786238514201409?authkey=CM6y9qnHhfj9mAE

Max's blog at http://maxhogarth.blogspot.de/2014/11/gruntenhutte-alpe-rossberg.html

Max's pictures at https://plus.google.com/photos/102257273463070793435/albums/6041584113415203297/6076752222594002146?pid=6076752222594002146&oid=102257273463070793435

I found this and I really like it.
See the full size original at http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-167ee46608f8ec7a7e61dc3146df2279?convert_to_webp=true

Autumn but 20°C. Out all afternoon on my race bike through Allgäu. Rode to Eggenthal and then via Wildpoldsried to Kempten. Max picked me up with the car at McDonalds.

82km and 970 meters of climbing
Track at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=zgifgdrhhgmdjnjd

Alison, Max and I hired a sailing yacht this afternoon and went out for an afternoon sailing on the Forgensee.


Picture is by Max - you can tell - it is "artistic".

I love sailing. I love the combination of relaxation and sport. Always have, always will.



At http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=dusnftmighbausdi you can see our track. As you can see we practiced lots of gybes and even more tacks. 11 kms in 2hrs 20 mins.

Great fun! And in the evening I went spinning.

More photos at https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103827427036815679772/albums/6056014088141952449

Out on my own with my race bike enjoying a sunny evening after an afternoon of rain. The Jochpass road was closed for an old timer race so I rode the first part up the old pass (extremely steep -see the profile at about 40kms) and then was told by a marshall that no more cars would be coming so rode up an empty Jochpass - just me on my own enjoying the scenery. Just as I reached the top they opened the pass again for traffic. The picture shows me reaching the finish line of the race. Just the cheering crowds are missing.



63kms and 925 mters of climbing
Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=iwbitzeuddqypgtg

I wrote in my last post that the new indoor cycling bikes at the fitness studio seem to want less from me in a training session than my sports watch suggests I should be doing. I talked about this with the trainers and they suggested an FTW Test to calibrate the bike to me (or the other way round).



Today we did the test. Four minutes producing 75 Watts of power followed by four at 100 , four at 125 and so on until you can not do any more. You have to remain sitting and there is no motivating music. I managed 40 minutes and reached a power of 275 Watt before giving up.

The bike then told me that in future I need to give in an FTW value of 253 at the start of each session. Until now it has been suggesting 200 based on age, weight and six hours training a week.

Who would have thought that getting fit could be so technical.

And who would have thought that you would have to cycle so hard just to run two old 100 Watt bulbs.

Edit 12.10.14: I could still feel the effects of this test two days later.

Today I was in Nesselwang spinning again. The bikes are very high tech - http://m.indoorcycling-shop.com/item/49432d544b494337422d3031 - but this evening the colors kept me in a zone below where my personal training program says I should be. If I carry on training at this level, then after 5 hours I will have zones 1 and 2 finished but no training in zone 3 at all.

Apparently we can correct for my real level of fitness by doing a test. We are going to do it on Thursday. I am excited to see what the test results are.

Sunday afternoon and still missing 45 minutes in Zone 3 so once up the Alpspitz as fast as possible and then straight down again to go to spinning in the new studio in Nesselwang.

12km and 580 meters of climbing
Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=siiqgmplzsmtzien



With todays ride I reached the 4000 kilometer mark! 4000km cycled in 2014. And so many hours of fun.

In the studio they have spinning bikes with so many lights, dials and displays that you almost forget that you are also working out. Great fun.

After spending the morning "brunching" in Rückholz with Alison, I went out for a race bike ride.



I was planning to cycle through Tannheimertal and back through Pfronten but the temperature was so perfect and the weather so nice that I changed the plan and cycled down the Geichpass and back via Reutte.



76km and 720 meters of climbing. Track at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=enbfjueohztedvty

For Hermanns 50th birthday we said we would take him to the Roßbergalpe. Today was a bank holiday so Hermann, Heidi, Alison and I walked up to the Grüntenhütte and then, after a beer, on across the shoulder of the Grünten to the Alp.



We left in mist but soon came out in to sunshine and enjoyed views across the clouds to the surrounding mountains.



The lunch at the Alp was fantastic as always.

More photos at https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103827427036815679772/albums/6035783557911106593

Another rainy Tuesday so once again there were only two of us. We did the same route as on the 21st - 12km with 580 meters of climbing. Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=kfoubesghzjabsgp - but a little faster. Just once up the mountain and back down but at least we were out biking.


A not very good photo looking down on to Nesselwang from the mountain. It was dark, cloudy and rainy so a good picture was too much to expect.

A warm and sunny Sunday morning so Heidi and I were race biking. We had both been at parties the night before - Alison and I at two from mid afternoon to midnight - so needed to cycle off alcohol and food.



Over 70 kilometers through the warm and sunny countryside. The route was mainly on cycle paths or side roads.

71kms and 970 meters of climbing
Track is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=snxlnfhwiajjgmzv