Off Season Antics 

Usually in the months of November and December the motivation is low and the calorie intake is high, for me on the other hand this was different.
While winding down at the end of the season I decided to target some track races back in England, after doing a few track leagues I really needed some motivation and sunshine so I decided to get myself to warmer climates in sunny Spain!
Spain (especially Costa Blanca) is renounced for its 365 days of sunshine and endless rolling terrain, It really is cycling heaven.
Numerous professionals choose this hot spot to do their base miles this time of year, while the sound of professionals doing it might be daunting dont let that put you off trying it out for yourself, It can be done incredibly cheap and you'll have an equally amazing experience just like the pro teams.

I flew to Alicante and did a 16 day block which was plenty of time to get the legs to where they needed to be, I actually stayed in Jalon (Xalo) with a cycling touring business called Siempre Ciclismo, ran by Gavin and his wife Kathryn, their knowledge of the local area and cycling routes was overwhelming, just like their hospitality, the pair housed me for the entire trip and we became good friends.
After memorizing some routes Gavin showed me I would regularly take myself off for hours on end getting those well needed base miles in, sometimes only seeing two or so cars, you really cant beat this area for training.
I was able to get a round trip flight with Ryan Air for £45!

The climbs in the area are perfect for pacing yourself or even doing some power/fitness testing on, there are a handful of climbs that are over 15 or so minutes some even 25+, I was only about 5km away from the bottom of the Col De Rates which is one of the most popular climbs in Europe, numerous professional teams use this climb for power testing and TT efforts as the grade is consistent and the road is extremely quiet.
My best time was 16:05 for the 6.5km long climb which is reasonably fast for this time of year and gave me a good gauge of fitness.

If anyone is interested in trying this out please feel free to drop me an email at gleddy123@gmail.com
I'd be happy to give out some information from my experience.


More exciting news coming up so stay tuned.
Peace out.