OK, my first season back on the bike is over. I'm having a shortish break of a week or so.
So how did I go? I think pretty well all things considered.
After learning to walk again, I attempted to pedal for the first time in mid-June 2008. By mid-May 2009 I had won 2 Gold medals at the Oceania para-cycling road championships in both the time trial and road race as well as Silver medals in the same two events at the Nationals a couple of weeks earlier. Along the way I had attained an FTP of ~ 270 watts and a MAP of 385 watts. I reached CTL of ~ 70 TSS/day.
Some things, which seem minor to many, were not trivial to do. Things like getting a bike leg attachment sorted out, having short cranks made so I could pedal with a knee that wouldn't flex very well. Progressing to longer cranks. Being able to ride out of the saddle. Riding outdoors again. Riding on the roads again. Racing for the first time again. Riding on the track. Racing on the track. So much has been a rediscovery of bike riding. In a way that's part of what has kept me going, re-learning stuff that I had taken for granted before.
So all up a very promising start for my first (nearly) year back on the bike.
But what's next?
Well I've decided on a few longer-term and medium-term goals.
Longer Term Goal (as at May 2009):
To be re-evaluated after Feb 2010 track nationals.
Kilometre time trial to be priority, ultimately aiming to be top 3 of all para categories by 2011/12.
This pushes for 2012 Paralympic selection in the team sprint.
Medium Term Goals (as at May 2009):
1. Attain podium standard performance level at Track Nationals, Feb 2010 (whether that results in podium depends on competitor numbers at that standard).
- Stretch goal to be Silver medal standard by Feb 2010
- Specific events are Kilo TT and 4km Pursuit.
Event standards (Gold / Silver / Bronze):
Kilometre TT: 1:16.631 / 1:18.091 / 1:20.280
4km Pursuit: 5:03.404 / 5:09.075 / 5:17.582
2. Continue all round development as a rider
- ability to ride competitively with prosthetic
- Lift mean maximal power/mass ratio across key durations (FTP / MAP / 1-min and sprint)
3. Further prosthetic development
- new cycling specific leg in use by Aug/Sep 2009
4. Refinement of riding position with new prosthetic / work on better aerodynamics
- seek 5% reduction in pursuit CdA (currently ~ 0.26m^2)
So there you have it.
Now all I got to do is buckets of hard work.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Goals Galore
Posted by Alex Simmons at 8:11 pm
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5 comments:
Hope you have your goals pinned up somewhere prominent so on those days when your prosthetic is being annoying, you just dont think you will acheive them or you are just having a plain old bad day, you can look at them and go "Hey this is what this is all about" and just get pedalling!
What an awesome site! I am an LC3 here in Grenville, SC USA and am totally inspired by your expertise and progress. George Hincapie and Craig Lewis both live here in Grenville so I have a lot of local inspiration but I must say that this site rocks! Thankls for taking the time to share your progress with the world.
Congrats, Alex, on a great and inspiring season! As others have said, your site is awesome, informative, and above all inspiring!
Best of luck with ALL your goals, both on and off the bike!
I didn't see the goal "Update blog less regularly" ?
;-D
Thanks one and all.
And Ant. - I prefer quality over quantity. ;) I have a new post I'm working on (a power training one). Since I had a bit of time off the bike, I didn't have much to write about but have been training solid for about 2 weeks now.
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