A Team Time Trial, snow (❄), dodged shrapnel from a roller bomb, nearly collided with an elderly woman at 35 mph and reconnaissance for my fundraising effort for the dZi Foundation!

Week 1

There is nothing better to do on a Tuesday evening than a ZTR-EB race! Racing in the (A) category, I broke away with around 500m to go – I was caught just metres from the line, by one rider – I finished 2nd! I celebrated in style 😉 

I became a photographer on Wednesday, as I shot some cool images of our Team ride following the introduction of some new camera angles 🙂

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Friday featured some punchy efforts on the Richmond course – I rode with Rich Robinson for a bit…

I didn’t start riding until late on Saturday, due to the fact my gear cable had broke. Nevertheless, it was a pretty intense session, on the rollers: 51 x anaerobic efforts, varying in length. A good cadence session 🙂Super Sunday – My mum’s birthday and an excellent day for riding outside! Although the roads were damp, it was sunny and I definitely could not afford to miss such a rare opportunity. I headed out towards Worlaby, to do a few hill reps before breakfast. The batteries in my power meter had died, so I had no power, but that didn’t stop the fun 🙂

Mileage: 210.8 miles

Elevation gain: 7,602 ft

Time ridden: 9 hrs 57 mins

Cumulative mileage (since 1st January): 1,099.4 miles (London to Cannes)

Cumulative elevation gain (since 1st January): 36,577 ft (Height of Mt. Everest)

Cumulative time ridden (since 1st January): 51 hrs 08 mins

Week 2

Some great Team Time Trial Practice for the upcoming Team Time Trial, hosted by JZRA, on Wednesday! Team dZi are looking good – I think they will win 😀

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Friday fun – I unlocked the Cervélo S5! But more importantly, my half-term break had begun. I watched ‘The Friday Criteriums’ unfold, as I blasted around the streets of Richmond…

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A change from the turbo or the road, I headed for Derby Velodrome on Saturday. An RSR (Regional School of Racing) session, today’s session focused on the Madison – I practised handslings and so on with a partner, and I also avoided a few crashes too 🙂

February 14th aka Valentine’s Day – I like to spend it with my bike. Clear skies encouraged for a ride, and so I provided; 55 miles with Paul, my Godfather. It even snowed towards the end! Mileage: 196.3 miles

Elevation gain: 3,711 ft

Time ridden: 10 hrs 21 mins

Cumulative mileage (since 1st January): 1,295.7 miles (London to Cannes)

Cumulative elevation gain (since 1st January): 40,288 ft (Height of Mt. Everest)

Cumulative time ridden (since 1st January): 61 hrs 29 mins

Week 3

I started the week with our final TTT (Team Time Trial) Practice session. Nervous yet excited, we spoke about our plans and tactics for the upcoming race.

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TTT Tuesday! Fantastic performance by Team dZi! A total of 3 flat laps, we averaged 28mph (45.06km/h) for little over 40 minutes. I rode with Hugo, Frederic, Reine and Kevin 🙂

The weather on this Wednesday could not have been any more grim. And I mean it. A circuit RSR session, I left home early (around 06:00) to get there on time. Held at Mallory Park, it began raining pretty heavily before the actual riding began. Nevertheless, we got our gear on and headed out into the GRIM conditions. Rain, wind, cold, mud, everything that is horrible weather-wise, was here. The session ended early, probably due to fears of hypothermia and frostbite. I’m not even joking, it took us like 30 minutes to get changed, because our fingers didn’t really function 😀

Despite the poor weather, we were still able to do some riding – On rollers. Riding a bike with wet tyres on some rollers is not recommended. Crammed into a room, one small mistake could lead to a massive domino effect! There was as much stress mentally, trying to stay on the rollers, as physically from the session itself! We did some Russian steps – essentially a pyramid of efforts – and a Points Race simulation. To make things even more exciting, some guys’ rollers literally EXPLODED! His rear roller/barrel fragmented, radiating shrapnel in all directions; epic 😉

The 10,000ft Challenge – Reconnaissance

100 miles + 10,000ft of vertical elevation – This is the 10,000ft Challenge I will be undertaking, to raise awareness for the dZi Foundation! 

I currently ride for Team dZi – A cycling team that promotes awareness for the dZi Foundation. From education and sanitation to agriculture and transportation, the dZi Foundation improves the quality of life for countless Nepalese citizens; reducing poverty levels. Currently serving over 30,000 Nepalese in an expanding network of remote villages, funding for the dZi Foundation primarily derives from the unrestricted funding efforts of private individuals, like myself.

The communities that the dZi Foundation work with match every donation pound-to-pound or dollar-to-dollar, with their contribution in time and labour hours. This essentially doubles the impact of your donation! Please feel free to donate whatever you can: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Christopher-Durham

The 10,000ft Challenge involves going up and down a hill outside my school a total of 35 times – Today’s reconnaissance involved 20 reps. 100km and 6,000ft of climbing, today’s recon of my charity ride for the dZi Foundation went very well! In addition to bunny-hopping at 35mph in order to avoid potholes, I had to dodge an elderly woman crossing the road! Friday – Steady spin with the CTWT crew + Nathan Guerra. I was fuelled by some Scottish crab and chilli ravioli, with avocado salad!

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Saturday – RGR (Richmond Group Ride) and some extra miles. High power-heart rate points showing a good level of fitness 🙂

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A fast spin with the ESS (European Sunday Spin) Crew marked the end of a 500+km and 12,000ft week! Mileage: 316.3 miles

Elevation gain: 12,692 ft

Time ridden: 15 hrs 05 mins

Cumulative mileage (since 1st January): 1,612 miles (London to Cannes)

Cumulative elevation gain (since 1st January): 52,980 ft (Height of Mt. Everest)

Cumulative time ridden (since 1st January): 76 hrs 34 mins

Week 4

Week 4 began on a lighter note – Some school basketball, followed by what is probably the best recovery food known to humankind; homemade beef wellington, courtesy of mum 🙂I didn’t do very much this week – Revision for my upcoming GCSE exams in May and June had covered much of my time throughout the week, so my first chance to have a good spin was on Friday. 7,040 pedal revolutions in total, I rode with a guy called Joseph Bank, and together we blasted through the streets of Richmond.

Saturday – Anaerobic intervals! 5 x 5 second sprint, 10 second sprint, 20 second sprint, 30 second sprint and a 1 minute blast. I held the KOM (King Of the Mountains) Jersey for a while 🙂

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Sunday – Over 100km in total, at a good pace too. I led the ESS (European Sunday Spin) and won the 1 lap race at the end! Maximum heart rate recorded was 210bpm! I also cruised with the USS (U.S. Sunday Spin) Crew 🙂

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Mileage: 139.4 miles

Elevation gain: 3,901 ft

Time ridden: 6 hrs 16 mins

Cumulative mileage (since 1st January): 1,751.4 miles (London to Cannes)

Cumulative elevation gain (since 1st January): 56,881 ft (Height of Mt. Everest)

Cumulative time ridden (since 1st January): 82 hrs 50 mins

Thanks for reading! 🙂