Sierra Nevada 2015 | Yoga 4 Cyclists trip with Sinead Kennedy and Cycle Sierra Nevada

That's me in the middle, rocking the Panda Power.

I feel like DC Rainmaker, writing a post about "X Interesting Things I Did This Weekend". I went on my first cycling holiday. The holiday had yoga activities. Cormac from Cycle Sierra Nevada lead the cycling and Sinead Kennedy ran the Yoga and Stretching sessions. There was fifteen others on the trip, including Cormac and Sinead. It was pretty 50:50 in terms of guys and dolls (my love of musical theater ends here). Anyway, lets get on with the story... This is a story of my bowel and kneecap movements, so be prepared for that.

Short Summary for the reading equivalent of the "Van of Shame"

"Who wants a lift back in the Van of Shame?" - Cormac

Rather than put the TL;DR at the end, I'll put it at the start, a "too long; won't read" if you will. For some strange reason, my sleeping pattern and digestive system don't like these foreign countries. I slept very little, and I felled a few trees (dropped some logs). We cycled a fair bit, climbed a lot and relaxed by doing some yoga sessions and stretching sessions. There was also lots of Ham and Cheese rolls eaten, and beers drank. There was a rest day trip to Granada, where we missed the bus and had to go to Motril and had to cook our own food in a restaurant. Climbed to the highest village in mainland Spain. There was a party too. I messed up the bike fitting and wrecked my trip due to knee pain.

Before Going

"Pantani, Pantain, The Pirate" - Charles

So when we were talking later, I couldn't remember where I heard about the Yoga 4 Cyclists trip. I didn't fancy skiing this year as I didn't enjoy the sore feet and living at altitude last winter. I told Charles, my good friend, that I intended to go on this cycling holiday. Charles also decided to come. We decided to room together, mainly because it saved ~€100 and he enjoyed it so much in Ischgl... He didn't really. But the banter was good, after some snoring, toilet usage and hamstring comparison incidents.

I trained hard in January, did some maintenance work in February and tapered for two weeks before the trip. Charles and I would train on the weekends that I was back in Galway. The most Charles had done was a 93km ride which took 4.45 hours this ride entailed a hail storm and a bonk. When we would train, and I would attack him, I would shout "Luke-Berto Contador". Charles, being Italian, would shout "Pantani". Our training rides would usually end with a cup of tea, shower (individually) and meet Andrew for some food.

I had no idea what to expect about the trip. Would the others be better than me? Would I be out the back everyday? As someone with a tender ego and who fancies himself as a decent climber, this would be though to bare. The weather in the build up to the trip was bad, the mountains were very scary, due to frost. So I decided not to ride them, as I'm prone to the odd crash.

Sinead send some e-mails in the build-up to the trip. These e-mails were good as they had a great Checklist on what to bring. Physically, I felt ready for the trip, 67.5kg and an FTP of 229W. Mentally I had no idea what to expect. I couldn't speak Spanish, I didn't even know how to order a slice of cake and a Cappuccino. Turns out Charles was pretty handy at the old Spanish.

I packed my stuff two days before. I couldn't get my Stages power meter off my bike, so I left it behind. I had recently finished replacing the battery in my heart rate monitor, after messing with the stripped bolt for almost four months. So I would have some pacing tool.

Day One, Saturday: Arrival and Yoga

"I'll tell ya something lads, that wasn't a pissy yoga class" - Eugene

I was up at 03:45 and the Airport Taxi (01 290 9090) was outside at 04:05, 10 minutes early. The driver was really great, and had many good stories. He recently said to one passenger "I recognize you from somewhere... You're the madman who spent ages trying to fit the bike in the car on your way to the IronMan." I wasn't really nervous about the flight, as this would be the fifth time in the last thirteen months I had been on a plane. I met Charles at the Airport and had a fry. In the Duty-Free, Charles went on a Sunglasses buying spree, boarding the plane three pairs heavier. I only picked up the one pair. We both got Oakley Holbrooks in Sunglass Hut.

Los Hermanos de Gafas del Sol

The plane ride was smooth, we were placed near the back of the plane, I was in the row in front of Charles. When he went to sleep, I grabbed his ankle and shouted "Snakes on the Plane!". I'm pretty sure a guy who was awake since 01:30 on a bus from Galway appreciated that. The bar for banter had been set, Top Class banter.

There was a little hanging around after the plane landed, as we introduced ourselves to each other. I didn't know anyone except Charles. A lot of the Orwell guys knew each other. We had the Audax Ireland organiser, Paul, on the trip. Paul was well versed in Spanish, as he spend a lot of weeks cycling in South America. Cormac and Sinead met us at the airport. We got into the transport that was arranged. Paul, Eugene, Charles and I were in one car. I thought that Eugene was going to be a quiet guy, as he didn't say much in the car. It was a one hour trip from Malaga Airport to Velez de Benaudalla. There was a small lunch. During the lunch we discovered that Paul and Eugene were almost neighbours in Dalkey. Then we were shown to our accommodations.

Los Hermanos del Banter

"You're coming in the van with me" - Cormac, in his Donegal accent, to Eugene

Cormac dropped the people off in his van. It turned out that we would be living in the same, small complex as him. I was rooming with Charles, and Eugene would also be living with us. Three of the girls, Mairead, Sandra and Judith, were also in the complex.

The days had a good structure, Yoga at 17:30 and Dinner at 19:30. This was my first Yoga class ever. It was done at a good pace and Sinead was very clear in the instructions. The class took place on top of the roof of the restaurant, which was cool. One yoga position, Cat-Cow, started me laughing. I was very loose after this class, very loose. I eased down the stairs. We walked to the supermarket, that's when Eugene came out with the quote of the day (at the top of this section).

"When Sinead said about the Wind Remover pose, I could feel you looking at me, bro" - Luke (me), to Charles about the storm that was brewing.

After picking up a few things, we went back to find our bikes in that Apartment. Christmas in March. They were Rose Pro SL bikes, with the new 11 speed Shimano 105 groupset. We immediately set about setting them up. Here's where I made a mistake that I would pay dearly for later. I set the saddle all the way back, on the 'fore-after setting. This ended up hurting my knees pretty badly. Dinner was really nice, I can't remember what I had, but it was Goat's Cheese Salad for starters.

Day Two, Sunday: Ride to Motril and Yoga

"Luke-Berto Contador" - Luke (me), as I dropped the hammer on the 5km ascent

Nothing like waking up in the middle of the night, busting for a shit and realising that your body is up to it's old tricks again. I couldn't get back to sleep. We got out of bed at 08:00 and I made a pot of porridge. The second pot of porridge of my life. It had more in common with the cement in the walls than what Eugene rustled up. A few more visits to the bathroom and we were at the meeting point (the village's main coffee shop) for 09:30. There was some fiddling with the bikes and we were on the road shortly after 10:00.

The crew on the first ride

We rolled easy to Motril, seeing a bike race in action. I noticed that the air was very dry. So I switched to breathing through my nose, and hydrated often. Had coffee in Motril. Cormac told us that there would be a 5km climb on the way back to Velez and that we could ride it at our own pace. I was slightly nervous about pacing myself using heart rate, as I had been relying on my Power Meter for almost nine months. I hadn't even being using a heart rate monitor for the previous four months.

The climb was 5km at 5% grade. The gradient was more or less constant, and there was very smooth roads with wide lanes and lots of turns. Charles and I had explained to people what "Luke-Berto Contador" and "The Pirate" was about. Cormac said to ride single file. I already had an inkling that I was one of the stronger riders in the group, so I was watching the guys at the front, from the middle of the pack. A gap quickly opened. Sarah setting the pace early on, Eugene, Siobhan and Charles on her wheel. I moved up to Charles' wheel. Sarah began to drop back, and Eugene was on the front. About half-way up, the pace slowed beside a car park. I popped out and signalled my intention to go for it by reiterating my trademark phrase. Charles and Siobhan were on my wheel, but they soon disappeared, as I upped my heart rate to Zone 5.3 (194bpm). I was fresh after my two week taper. I was in the saddle and taking the corners really wide to maintain momentum. Out of nowhere, Cormac roll up next to me and says not to push it too hard on the first day. I finished the climb in 14:25, spending 6 minutes in Zone 5 heart rate. I didn't really feel tired, or full of lactic acid.

The first group to the top decided to go back down and try the climb again. The descent was awesome, fast flowing corners. It was like Cruagh rd. in Dublin, but much wider. The second time up the climb it finished Eugene, Siobhan, Luke, Cormac, but it wasn't really competitive. We descended back to Velez.

I'm pretty handy at the old descending, there was sunscreen running into my eyes here and I'm still clipping the apexes.

We had a coffee, shower and met later for the second Yoga class. This class was different from the first. Still a pacey Yoga class, according to Eugene. I felt good after the class. Not as loose as the previous day. Dinner again that evening.

Here's the ride on Strava: Yoga 4 Cyclists day 2: Motril.

Day Three, Monday: Ride to Restibal and Órgiva and Stretching

"I thought you looked like a Fred" - Cormac, bantering Eugene about his hairy legs

This day started the same as the previous, a sudden urge in the middle of the night and no sleep. Charles tried his hand at the porridge, it was very chewy. Eugene offered to be the porridge chef for the apartment for the rest of the week. There was little time wasted in the morning and we were on the road from 10:00. After 3km of riding we hit a 14km climb. The average grade was 5%. Again it was constant with wide corners. The gaps opened very quickly. I sat in with Siobhan, Sinead, Sarah and Charles. Paul and Eugene got a bit of a gap. We got to a turn in the road and we all paused. Paul turned back and we went up the road with the signs saying something like "Road Closed". Charles, Eugene and I gapped the girls. Again Cormac came out of nowhere (the guy's theme song should be "Flight of the Valkyries") and after exchanging a few words with Eugene. He turned back. Eugene upped the tempo. Charles and I didn't respond. I stayed in low Zone 4 heart rate during this climb, knowing its length. Taking the corners as wide as possible while staying seated. I was counting down the kilometers to the top, to Charles. With 500 meters to go, I accelerated and gapped him. Eugene was already sitting pretty at the top. Second place for me.

We all made it to the top. I get bad helmet hair.

I had fun on the descents. Only an idiot would descend at 55km/h one handed.

Myself and Eugene decided to ride in Orange kits this day. Sarah and Siobhan also took the long route.

Then it was downhill to get some lunch. There was a turnoff point on the ride, where some would do 50km, and others would do 80km. I went with the 80km route. Sarah, Eugene and Siobhan accompanied Cormac on this route. We missed the stretching, as the group who turned off had Sinead. But we did get to see some more towns, and a river delta as it went into a reservoir. I seen Cormac descend that day, and I seen his commitment and the lines he was taking. I was in awe of his ability. Eugene was really strong on the climbs that day. I was carrying an extra 5kg of timber over Eugene.

Myself and Siobhan at the Reservoir

Here's a link to the ride on Strava: Yoga 4 Cyclists day 3: Cormac is unbelievable at descending. Eugene had the turbo boosters on all day.

Day Four, Tuesday: Torviscón Loop and Stretching

"This must be where Cormac took the picture for his website" - Sinead

You can probably guess how I spent the early hours of day four. When I got out of bed, Eugene was like a DJ stirring two pots of porridge. This was some high quality oats. My knees felt stiff this day. I thought it was sunburn. The day started with a ride north, to the foot of a 5km climb at 8%. I stayed with Cormac, Sinead and Siobhan. Charles, Eugene and Paul forged ahead. Charles started coming back to us in the last two kilometers. So I jumped onto his wheel. Paul and Eugene had already hit the top and had come back down for more. Again I was keeping it in low Zone 4 on the Heart rate.

500 meters from the line I heard Siobhan say "attack". She sailed past us. I latched onto her wheel. 250 meters to go, she heard me shift up again. Clunk, Ding! I was out of the saddle and accelerating hard. Siobhan is a seasoned women's racer, I wasn't fucking around when I attacked, shit was real. She tried to respond, but I had the momentum and the freshness after her attack moments ago. Third place on that climb.

I'm on someone's wheel for the 5km climb at 8%. I like to imagine that I'm the star GC rider getting the tow to the line.

After going to Torviscón, we climbed for a long time. Then we got to descend, this was technical. It was constant narrow hairpins. I had done Three Rock Hill in Dublin many times, this was similar, but without the constant fear of sliding out on gravel. These roads were like someone dropped spaghetti over the mountains. We had lunch in Torviscón and returned back to Velez.

We got to do the stretching that day, as Sinead was in our group. The stretching was a superset of my usual warm up and cool down stretches. I've built my routine from years of sport as a kid. But perhaps there's knowledge I take for granted, as I've played sport for most of my life (except for in college, where I swelled up to 83kg).

I think I had some Pasta or Lasagne for dinner, it was nice. Myself and Charles met some girls from Sheffield in the restaurant. As the only two other early 20's English speakers in the village, we hit it off decently.

Here's the ride on Strava: Yoga 4 Cyclists day 4: Another elevation record rewarded by some awesome technical descending.

Day Five, Wednesday: Rest Day Trip to Granada and, involuntary, to Motril

"The chef will be here in fifteen minutes, so we can order food then" - Paul (translated from Spanish)

I think the Beastie Boys wrote a song about my holiday sleeping pattern, "No Sleep 'till Brooklyn". Sarah, Paul and Eugene, went out early for another crack at the 14km climb. A lot of the group went to Granada. Cormac's neighbour drove us in a minivan. I don't have great experiences in minivans in foreign countries. But this wasn't as scary as the sleepy guy in Ischgl. We went to see the old Moorish fortress called The Alhambra. It was pretty cool. I wouldn't have liked to be a soldier attacking that place.

Then after eating a small Paella, and experiencing temperatures of 29ºC. Us Gingers are nothing if not tropical weather people. We tried to get the bus back to Velez, only to be told that it was sold out. So we got a bus to Motril, with the aim of getting another bus to Velez. When we realised the the next bus was not until late, we decided to get dinner in Motril. This was extremely stressful. We got raw chicken, and a stone to cook it on. This was fun for about 9 seconds. Imagine being really hungry, tired, wearing t-shirt and 3/4 lengths as it got cold. Then being presented with a fucking stone on which to cook your chicken. Why did we have to wait for the Chef to arrive? Was he a trainee, who was going to learn by watching customers? The risk of Salmonella was high... but could I experience anymore digestive discomfort?

My Stress Score on Strava would've been pretty high.

Day Six, Thursday: To Trevelez, the highest village in mainland Spain and Yoga

"Charlie, you're going to suffer today" - Cormac, trying to temp Charles into the Van of Shame

I actually slept most of the night, I got back to sleep after a bathroom break. I was never so happy to have a nightmare. I was very somber this morning, my knees were killing me, and I had to ride to the highest village in mainland Spain. It honestly felt like I was going to war today. This climb was 33km at 3% and was classified as a HC on Strava. Some people got a lift to the base of the climb, in the Van of Shame. Other's cycled to the base.

Halfway to Trevelez

I rode at the back for most of the day. With Sarah and then with Dave. I was keeping it in the low Zone 3 on the heart rate. Then after the break I rode with Sinead and Siobhan. Charles was up the road riding by himself. He had to talk to his hand for company, just like Castaway. Pretty sure his hands are named Wilson and Pam. I gained a gap on Sinead and Siohban on the small descent, fourth on the climb. I was only including the members of our group in the numbers, as a belgian guy joined in.

We finally made it, after 2:27:40 of climbing. We sat at a cafe and asked for the standard ham and cheese roll, "Bokaido con Humo y Queso". Which took ages to come. How hard is it to put a few slices of ham and cheese in a bit of bread?

After departing Trevelez with Siobhan. The Panda Power was needed that day. You can see the top of my knee cap swelled up.

We left for some more climbing and then a neverending descend, where I hit 194bpm after freaking out about a hairpin I didn't see coming. Then Charles nearly went over a cliff on the next one. We got back to Torviscón and had a Coke. Then we went home, I tried to keep up with Charles and Siobhan but the knees were getting too hard to push past the dead spot on the chainrings.

I missed the Yoga class that evening. I was sad to miss it, but there was no way I was going anywhere with knees like that. Charles and I got talking to an English couple, who were planning their retirement. They seemed really nice, for Man City fans. Dinner and a few non-alcoholic beers were consumed. Non-alcholic beers are extremely isotonic. The English girls showed up at the restaurant again, Charles and I had anothers crack, but their boyfriends came up in the conversation. So it was friendly banter from there on out.

Here's the day's ride on Strava: Yoga 4 Cyclists day 6: To Trevelez, highest village in mainland Spain.

Day Seven, Friday: To Motril and Party

"The King of the Mountain wasn't decided on points..." - Sinead

Another rough night ensued, but Eugene's porridge was top notch again. I made some adjustments to my bike, after advice from Cormac. We rolled east down to Mortil, doing the same loop as the first day. The women in the group were disappointed to hear about the English girls' boyfriends. There was lots of roundabouts, I was on the back of the group. It was a nightmare having to sprint out of the roundabouts with the knees. But I only made bitchy comments the once or twice. As with everything in life, you get two choices... Dig in, or Bitch out... I've never been one for the female canine line of action.

We took it easy on the last day.

We had coffee and rode the 5km at 5% climb again. I took it easy, then I seen Charles get dropped by Eugene and Cormac. So I rode up to him. Sat on his wheel until 2km from the summit. Then I set the pace. Charles stayed glued to the wheel. Wow, he's really come a long way from the guy who suffered in the headwinds of Moycullen. But three corners from the top, I set an unholy tempo that he couldn't live with. I felt like Froome on Mont Ventoux in 2013. In the space of a few hundred meters, I had put 13 seconds into him. Strava will say 5 seconds, but he was using his phone, which isn't accurate.

Sore knee or no, I had to defend the bragging rights over Charles on the final climb

The knee exploded on the way home, and I had to pedal with one leg clipped in.

We returned the bikes and yoga mats to Cormac and Sinead respectively. We packed up. Then the party started, there was Paella for dinner.

The Paella would defeat us.

Cava and Nutella Cheesecake

There was lots of banter at the dinner. Some prise giving. Charles and Sandra were crowned the King and Queen of the Mountain. I met a pair of couples who retired from Sligo and Glasgow, who knew about Tuam. The English couple was there at the start of the evening. Dave, the American, and his wife drank beers with us. Tord, Cormac's team mate, was also there too. The English girls had the same dinner as us. We wished them good luck, especially to Suzy, who the restaurant owner was trying to setup with his grandson.

Here's the ride on Strava: Yoga 4 Cyclists day 7: Motril. Destroyed Charles on the 5km climb. Thanks Cormac and Sinead for the week.

Day Eight, Saturday: Return to Dublin

"I honestly thought I was going to get Eugened on the plane" - Luke (me)

Fairly tipsy, I got very little sleep. We got a lift back to the airport from a very chatty Latvian guy. I remembered Eugene's story about his RyanAir flight over. He was in the front row beside to Obese individuals. They had circulation and bending over problems. So there I was, sitting on the plane, people were streaming down the aisle. The two seats beside me were not filled yet. Then I seen two fat Americans, barrelling down the aisle. "Shit, they'll probably want to talk about country music, AR-15s and Ford F-150s", I though. But they kept going and I got two thin Irish lads. They reeked of smoke and were dying for a fag the whole way home. The plane ride was smooth, despite the kid kicking me for most of the flight. I had a bit of sleep, which was sided by my reading of "Training and Racing with a Power Meter". Got the Air Coach back to O'Connell St. and lumbered up Grafton St. to the Luas home.

The sub-plots of the week and how they turned out...

Ross and Rachel

We had a Ross and Rachel in the group, I don't know how it turned out. But love is a Chess match, not a game of Go-Fish.

Eugene's hairy legs

The first day of cycling, Cormac said to Eugene "Are you not shaving your legs?". Eugene asked myself and Charles, both of whom were 7% more aerodynamic than him. On the morning of the final cycle, Charles lent Eugene his shaver... Smooth. Eugene got lots of attention from the others in the group. He also got some leg based banter at the Orwell Wheelers W200 training sign-on/Social Night.

Summary for the reading equivalent of the HC climb to Trevelez

I really enjoyed the whole trip, despite the no sleep, constant bathroom visits and inflamed knees. I'd definitely go next year on the Yoga 4 Cyclists trip. I would highly recommend for anybody to go on a training camp with Cormac.