Team Leffe Grump-a-thon

Well, TG didn't consume the vast quantity of Leffe that they might have done in their youth, but still enough to bring on hangovers on Sunday.

A brief return to the training programme for Grumpy Bob unfortunately careered into disaster after he contracted a cold. (See TG Rule #5)

Aaargh!

I thought it's about time we had an Aaaargh! thread, so the best I can come up with is this:

I got back on the bike proper today. This is the first actual biking session I have done since September. Anyway, I decided to do an hour on the turbo at 300 watts - steady. This would normally be a solid ride but not 'eyeballs out' - a sort of level two ride. Well, not today. It started fine: nice and easy, 100 rpm, Level 1 etc. Then it started to get uncomfortable at about 10 mins and I was definately in level 2 by this point and struggling with the cadence. So I clicked it up a sprocket and opted for 94 rpm - still solidly at 300 watts. By 30 mins I was hanging on, still at 94 rpm, but in and out of the saddle and heart rate climbing into level 3 at times.

Obviously, I had picked too high an intensity for my first session after such a long break. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who do not give up easily, so I stuck at it. The last 25 mins were all in level 3 - often near to level 4 - as I maintained the 300 watts output. I was squirming all over the saddle and by the end of the session felt empty.

Still, I dropped two kilos in weight from start to finish, despite drinking 750 ml of PSP. I guess most of this will be fluid loss and will, therefore, go back on pretty quickly. But at least I'm back on the bike. Tomorrow will be a light spin for 40 mins and some weights.

Team Grumpy Leffe-a-thon

From time to time, Team Grumpy meet up - sometimes to race, but more often than not to enforce TG rule #7. Which of course involves conspicuous consumption of TG's favourite energy drink, ideally partaking of its many varieties (Blonde, Brune, 9, Tripel, Radieuse, Ruby).

This weekend is one of those occasions, where a particular anniversary (for Grumpy Bob) coincides with a professional visit to Milton Keynes (for "Grumpy" Art). We intend to supplement our rigorous training programme with a genuine Leffe-a-thon. At least Grumpy Bob has more than three weeks to recuperate before the New Year's Day '10'.

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Team Culture

Having read the article of the new Team Sky, it seems to me that what we are missing in Team Grumpy is a team philosophy. But rather than the 'if you don't like it get off the ship' approach of Team Sky, I see ours as being something less imposed and more evolved organically - in other words a culture (oops, there's that word again).

Obviously, we have our team rules - a sort of 'six-fold path' to mediocrity - but there is a glaring omission from these because no mention is made of our heavy use of pop belge. This, I would suggest, is the focal point of the team culture and something around which we can build the team (where have I heard that expression before?).

Another "garage puncture"

Grumpy Bob just had an abortive turbo session. Regular readers (if there are such beasts out there) may remember a discussion of Grumpy Bob's work-life balance, which ended with the decision to focus training in the morning, prior to leaving for work. In keeping with this strategy, Grumpy Bob ventured out to the garage this morning to do an early morning interval session.

All was going nicely - good warm up to the appropriate HR, the first interval completed, into the second, when the dreaded flopping noise of a punctured rear tyre could be heard (and, what's more, felt since Grumpy Bob was listening to his iPod at the time). A quick repair was effected, but to no avail - the replacement tube had an unrepaired puncture.

At this point Grumpy Bob retired for breakfast and to repair the original tube. It's probably high time he set out to buy some new inner tubes.

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ScribeFire - Firefox add-on for blogging

Grumpy Bob has been rootling about seeking to simplify his blogging procedures. He's tried a nice-looking add-on called Deepest Sender, but finds it won't post to the Team Grumpy blog. The error message it throws isn't too helpful. Instead, he's pinning his hopes on ScribeFire, which seems to be pretty effective.

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Team Grumpy Management Style

Grumpy Bob noticed this story - Team Sky Reveals Recruiting, Management Methods over at cyclingnews.com. In it Dave Brailsford reveals the secrets behind the recruitment and management policies that are hoped to drive Team Sky forward through the coming seasons.

Oh, how different from Team Grumpy! No resume for our Team Manager-cum- Support Car driver: rather Mrs Grumpy was there, had car, no-brainer. No resumes for the two star riders (it's our team). No worries about communication (actually TG email quite a lot, even though the TG blog is quiet off-season).

On a more serious note, Grumpy Bob thinks it would have been wise for Team Sky to avoid trumpeting a successful management style before success!