I know that some (most?) of you will not be over the moon to see another training post from me, so I’ve decided to add some pictures of southern France to keep you interested.

I passed these guys on my ride this morning through the Camargue – a huge, flat area of marshes filled with seabirds, French cowboys and a few horses. He was pretty interested in the banana I was eating.

Weight: as of this morning it’s still going in the right direction. I haven’t changed a whole lot with my diet yet, so it must be the extra riding (nearly 12 hours this week). I’m now at 72.5kg (160lb). Sunday is pizza night, so this number may be fleeting.

This a lock on the Rhone-Sète canal, which connects the Rhone River (and the rest of Europe) to the Canal du Midi and, I suppose, the Atlantic Ocean.

New Strategy: I’ve decided that the first couple of months should be devoted to losing weight and getting the hours in, so I’m going to aim at not doing very hilly rides for a while. The flatter the course, the more I pedal, the more calories I burn. I hope.

Finally, a Roman mile stone that I found when I rode through the village of Manduel on my way back home. There are a few of these scattered around the area because we are on the Via Domitia, which connected Rome to it’s Spanish province.

Zone Two Management: the more I read, watch and listen about Zone Two, the more illusive it seems. Basing it on heart rate or power is okay, but it seems that Perceived Effort trumps both of these, i.e. riding at, say 70% of my MaxHR is getting easier, which means Zone Two must change with the times because Z2 is a zone that feels easy. It’s for this reason that I’ve expanded it to 60%-75% of MaxHR now (I still like to have some numbers to look at).

I’ve also started to not be afraid to push the upper limits of Z2, especially on climbs. As long as fatigue doesn’t set it, it’s probably better than staying at an easy pace.

Thanks for sticking around.