Getting ready for the summer season of cycling.

I love the first warm ride of the year. It's a stand out occassion. I can look back over the years and remember the first day of the year where I could wear shorts, t-shirt and knee pads on dry dusty trails on the Mountain Bike or my summer lycra on the road bike.

Earlier than I expected I had my 'stand out ride' last Sunday. I was able to blow the cobwebs off of the 'fast bike' and enjoy some lovely dry roads and some unseasonable warmth. A far cry from a couple of weeks ago when I had my spiked marathon winters on and the temperature was -8 degrees!

I also don't like this time. The winter miles are hard, yes, but in general they are slow ploddy 'get the miles in' type of rides. Your challengers are the elements and the temptation of a warm mug of Cocoa and a slice of cake. But now the evenings are getting longer, the weather getting warmer, the faster bikes are being unleashed from the stable - and this means one thing - it's time for PAIN!

Now the challenge is other riders, events, Personal Bests (PB's) top speeds, average speeds, cadence, watts... PAIN!! Gone are the ploddy miles replaced by sharper harder sprints, decent hill climb work, fast technical decents and sitting on peoples wheels.

Lent is a time of year I try and use to get rid of a few unwanted pounds. this is difficult for me, I have a sweet tooth and have got used to having the odd chocolatey treat after tea. They say chocolate is as difficult to give up as cocaine and I guess like any addiction you need a goal, a want to break the addiction. My goal, my 'want' is to be faster than other riders, to be able to dance up the hills like Contador, to bash in sprints like Cav, yes, selfishly to be better than the next man.

I use this thought when the biscuit cupboard rears it's ugly head after tea and in the words of the great man Lance Armstrong - "sometimes you have to skip meals - to push yourself away from the Dinner Table, and it's not very fun, but the rewards on a 10km climb for losing those extra pounds can be minutes" Now that's going to make me better than the next man...

If you are going through this time of training, my thoughts are with you! Check out my other blog posts for hints and tips of how to prep you and your bike for your best season yet. Good Luck!