Bespoke Blog

The growth of Bespoke has been immensely satisfying on a professional level. Increasing the stores, expanding our product and service offering, employing more staff whilst (hopefully) remaining focused on looking after customers to the very best of our ability has been enormously challenging.

As this was all going on, I also become a dad, and now have three boys aged 6, 4 and 2.

Family and work, (and not always in that order), has taken priority over my fitness, and I have missed that buzz you get from tired legs after a big day in the saddle.

The fight back starts here !

My last good ride was a while ago: 2012 Quebrantahuesos. I even wrote a blog about it.
I used to commute in on the bike every day (one hour eacg way). Then I started to get the train in, as that gave me more time to catch up on emails.

I am now a depressing 12 kgs heavier than I was when I was fit. I Googled it and that's the weight of a 2 yr old. And I wonder why its so hard to climb……

For those of you who use power:
In 2012 FTP was 335 watts (or 4.6 watts per kg)
I had actually decided to try and get 5watts per kg - but the opposite happened!

Now I am much heavier, and have a lower FTP of 260 (3 watts per kg)
3 vs 4.5 - that's a huge fall.

So the aim is to lose weight AND gain power.
 Can I get back to where I was?

When I started Bespoke I was single and younger than the majority of my customers. If I wanted to take a short day at work I could, it was easier with fewer customers! If I wanted a sleep after a long weekend ride I could.

Now I am older, and my life more closely resembles a typical Bespoke customer: Married, family and a busy job.

The body is older, and the stresses have risen! Not a good combo for athletic potential.

The Plan...

So I wanted to test this:
- Can you get back into shape as you age?
- Can smarter training mitigate less time to train?
- Can smarter equipment purchases help with free speed?
- Is the brain (smart choices) as important as the heart, legs and lungs when it comes to a training plan?

So for the next 6 months I will try and train c.8 hours a week, but try and do it with some thought, so I get the best bang for the buck.

Not sure how it will pan out, but I am looking forward to trying !

In 4 weeks I will do my first sportive for a number of years - it's the Étape London and should be good fun. I have enlisted half the shop to act as my domestiques to get me round !
We have a voucher code for the event - please do join us if you can. Click HERE for details.

That's a very short term goal. For 2017 the sights are raised and I want to do a decent Ironman time again, and also feel 'competitive' in one of the big Euro sportives.

This blog will serve as a diary of sorts - nothing like public humbling to keep you focused!