Or maybe more like ‘Valley’ because I’m not where I wanted to be at this point in the program. I am feeling great on the bike, though, and climbing is getting much less traumatic than it used to back in January. I’m not sure I’m going much faster, but I can definitely do more of it without running out of gas.

A few weeks ago my schedule messed my program up a little and I suddenly haven’t done any recovery weeks in the last month. I’m sort of plateauing at between 11 and 13 hours and somewhere around 4500m of climbing a week.

What I’m really lacking is some long rides, so I’ll try and brave the Mistral for 6 hours one day this weekend. I think these types of rides will be key going forward, so I need to step on the pedal and get them done.

I’ve been feeling so confident in my climbing that I thought I’d schedule a Ventoux Double (3200m) for this week, but check out the wind (in knots) and temperatures for today and tomorrow – they don’t seem to get much better in the following 10 days.

It wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve climbed Ventoux in 50km winds and freezing temperatures, but I don’t really have the hunger for that kind of suffering right now. What I do have a hunger for is beer and pizza, so don’t ask me about the weight!