At the beginning of April 2022, we brought you the Cycling Weekly Big Fitness Project team of amateur cyclists – Danny Lloyd, Steve Faulkner and Julia Barty – as they embarked on six months of training, racing, time trialing and riding a Gran Fondo. After a month, how are they? (Warning: Covid-19 has appeared multiple times!)
Danny Lloyd: Happy as Larry to focus on Fred
I just got back from the Yorkshire Classic Sport, which ran well – despite some technical hurdles. My power meter had filled up before the start, so I had to judge my effort based on my heart rate alone. I also punctured, but thankfully, because I run tubeless tires, the sealant did its job and plugged the hole – once I sprayed it all over my bike! My goal was to finish in 4hrs30mins, but I did it in 3hrs56mins, mostly alone, with an average of 30.6kph, so I was really happy.
>>> Read last month’s CW Fitness Project update <<
The lack of power data was annoying, as it was probably my best ride so far. It was a mixed month overall. I had intended to participate in the Manchester Sheffield Manchester Sports match (April 3) but the weather was awful and I was feeling a bit rough, so I decided not to. After contracting Covid in February, I was really wary of coming back, hearing about footballers returning to training too early with heart damage. I even invested in an ECG machine for extra reassurance.
About Rider
Danny Lloyd
age: 32
hometown: Runcorn, Cheshire
JobOil Refining Operations Operator
ride for: Frodsham Wheelers CC
current FTP: 288 watts | 3.6 W/kg
Twitter: Tweet embed
Instagram: dannylloyd13
Results sheet for the month of April: 1. Climb as high as you can in preparation for Fred Wheaton’s challenge. Achieve? Yes – preparation on target. 2. Ride hard at Manchester Sheffield Manchester Sports Ground (April 3). Achieve? No – weather and disease conspired against me. 3. Completed the Yorkshire Classic in 4 hours and 30 minutes (April 24). Achieve? Yes, smash it – 3 hours 56 minutes
Project Objectives (March – October): converting a goalkeeper’s body into a cyclist’s body; Complete the Fred Wheaton Challenge in under 8 hours (May 8); Qualify for the Gran Fondo World Championship by taking the top 20% in the Cambridge Tour (12 June); Ride as hard as you can on the Etape du Tour (July 10); Complete my first cash race; Breaking 24 minutes in my local TT 10 miles on my road bike; Increased power by 20 minutes to more than 4 W/kg
Although it was just my chest coughing, I was determined to maintain the good habits, took a few days off the bike, and then gently returned to training. I had a great weekend in Yorkshire in mid-April combining a family vacation and some big hill rides in preparation for the Fred Wheaton Challenge (May 8th). My training structure remains the same: 12-14 hours a week, set by my coach Jack Reese, but I’ve also been enjoying using the Wahoo Systm app – especially the interactive training, yoga and core sessions. *
I do my best to be as organized as possible, and place huge orders for my nutrition and cleaning products, which saved me some cash as well. I’d like to explore my fueling event with a dietitian, so far I’ve simply been aiming for 60-80g of carbs per hour. I’m curious to see if some products or meal routines might help me more – watch this space. It’s all about preparing for Fred Wheaton now. I installed an 11-34 cassette, which gave me some smaller gears for very steep climbs; I created a mini course guide to nail it to my leg; And my parents agreed to meet me at the top of Whinlatter for a bottle change. Logistically everything is in place; Now I just need to bike and ride.
*Wahoo offered free Systm subscriptions to all three CW Big Fitness Project participants for the duration of the project. None of them are under any obligation to use Systm or be mentioned in editorial coverage
Steve Faulkner: Return with caution from Covid
I’m sorry to say, April was a bit of a write-off for me. I tested positive for COVID the day before my birthday on March 24th. My wife and I bumped into it and both of us were badly damaged; I was breathing really easy, and I felt so exhausted that just walking up the stairs made me feel down. Test result was positive for 12 days, and even after a week I still feel very stiff, so I haven’t done any training.
When I finally started feeling better, I followed the “gradual return to play” guidelines published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM): no exercise for at least 10 days and then a gradual return to training over the subsequent period. 10 days. I was monitoring my resting heart rate and heart rate variability, which slowly returned to normal. I am being careful and will do an ECG to check my heart before resuming the challenging sessions.
About Rider
Steve Faulkner
age: 38
hometown: Loughborough, Leicestershire
Job: Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Engineering and Physiology
Riding games for: Colville Wheelers
Current FTP: 295 W | 4.1 W/kg (estimated)
Twitter: Tweet embed
Instagram: Steviolkner 1984
Results sheet for the month of April: 1. Research equipment options (wheels, rings, bearings, clothes, etc.). Achieve? Yes – bearing, wheels and helmet selected. 2. Increase the volume of training. Achieve? No – Covid has stopped playing. 3. Refine the position of the TT bike. Achieve? Yes – save a few watts.
Project Objectives (March – October): Go under 20 minutes for a 10 mile time experience; regaining my club titles in TT (Coalville Wheelers); Stay focused on TT training, race more TT and improve my cadence
In the middle of April we took a family vacation to Mallorca, where I tried some running and cycling but still didn’t feel well. Only for the past week or so have I felt fully recovered, and this past weekend I was able to ride the bike for 90 minutes with a few more hard efforts. Having said that, I turned my power meter off, because I didn’t want to find out! I was hoping to race in early May but I know it wasn’t worth it. When I dare restart my power meter, I’ll figure out where I am – probably down 20-30 watts. It will take a few weeks to get “Project sub-20” back on track. On the plus side, getting off the bike gave me time to look again at my gear and gear. I had a good day in the wind tunnel at Silverstone, and did some experimenting with the efficiency of the propulsion system. After testing a variety of wheels, we found that using a disc wheel saved me about 12 watts at my target speed. It changed from using standard steel bearings to a ceramic bottom bracket and an oversized pulley wheel, saving 2-3% in terms of drive system efficiency. With my kit options more or less arranged, now I just need my body to get back to speed!
LR: Danny Lloyd, Julia Barty, Steve Faulkner
(Image credit: Future)
Julia Barty: ‘Crushing pebbles, conquering Kent’
Having tested positive for Covid in mid-March, my number one challenge last month was to fully recover so that I could return to training. I had a chest infection at the same time, so needed a course of antibiotics, and was off the bike for about four weeks. Unfortunately, on my first weekend playing sports, I injured my toe while playing soccer – my feet kicked so hard! A trip to A&E confirmed that my toe was broken, but the main thing was that it didn’t stop me from cycling.
In mid-April, my partner Del and I went to France to ride the Paris-Roubaix Challenge. We arrived 2 days before practice for riding on the stones, and I couldn’t believe how hard it was to push just to keep up the momentum! The event itself was completely unplanned… Everything was going well at first, the weather was perfect, but on the first cobbled section, Arenberg Trench, Del’s wheel crashed. We decided to call it a stop and took the train home.
About Rider
Julia Party
age: 30
hometown: Tanbridge Wells, Kent
JobOperations Leadership in Technical Retail
ride for: 1904RT; Southboro District Wheelers (Second Claim)
current FTP: 197 W | 3.2 W/kg
Twitter: Tweet embed
Instagram: Juliabert
Results sheet for the month of April: 1. Recovering from Covid-19 and returning to training. Achieve? Yes, he finally recovered. 2. He delivered a strong 172km run of the Paris-Roubaix Challenge (April 16). Achieve? No – the partner suffered a mechanic
Project Objectives (March – October): Compete in as many races as possible; transition to a Cat 3 license; lose 6 kg without losing energy; Perform as hard as you can at Etape Caledonia (15 May), Vätternrundan (18 June) and Etape du Tour (10 July)
The next day at 5am we drove to New Romney to Kent CA25. As my first TT, it was quite a mental challenge, and I was able to apply some of the mental training I had been doing on the Wahoo Systm app. Every time a negative thought crept in, I was able to change my mindset, focusing on the average target speed of 35 kilometers per hour. It worked! I was the fastest woman in the road bike class, with a time of 1 hour 9 minutes 24 seconds (21.6 mph). I’ve made a race calendar to help with planning, and for the next month I’ll be doing regular Zwift races and TT races at the club; My main target is Etape Caledonia on May 15th. Being on The CW Project proves to be really helpful – I already feel a lot more motivated. I’m even starting to feel like a local cycling celebrity; Recently a guy from my team wanted to chat after getting to know me from a mag – so cool!
This article was originally published in the May 5, 2022 print edition of Weekly cycling. Subscribe online And have the magazine delivered straight to your door every week.
