New Year training and a good blog read

I guess most of us have favourites amongst pro cyclists....way back in history I used to follow Big Mig, then Erik Zabel and more recently...(well for quite some time now actually, I'm not one of those who've suddenly come out of the closet since his horrific crash last year)...Jens Voigt.

So this post in a blog caught my eye and will probably loom large in my training reports from now on: 

http://cyclocosm.com/2010/01/calculate-your-jens-factor/

However I think there are two items missing:  rain and getting up BEFORE sparrow fart to complete your training as I have to do in order to get time training on the incredibly popular, regularly totally booked-out  indoor velodrome.

I will also use it during my 35 day tour from Palermo to Como which starts on May 15th and which already has influenced my training habits. Normally if there's a hint of rain I'll train indoors, but last Friday and again on Sunday I was of a mind to bite the bullet since when on a tour from A to Z(Palermo to Como) you ride whatever the weather. 

The long weekend's training therefore was a bit damp but I managed to do what I was s'posed to ie a 45min  TT effort on New Years Day and a 20 min power test up the 1 in 20 on Sunday.  The power test  had been done before and was better, although the word grind featured rather strongly, the TT session was longer and harder than before...I just wish there was somewhere closer than near Hanging Rock to do this sort of training...long stretches of quiet roads with minimal climbing are very hard to find.