I have been looking for a challenge to push my cycling forward and to be honest get me back out on a bike more.  After going to watch a good friend of mine race this 2015/2016 season of the central cyclocross series I was hooked.

I have been busy since watching Julian Thrasher race, planning a new bike and collecting parts together to build my new bike to break in to the CX world with. I have gone for a Specialized Crux E5 frame set, from there building it up mainly with Shimano 105. The great thing about this bike is that I can fit it with road tyres and use it as a road bike.

How does the saying go, “a bad trades man will always blame his tools” ? Well I’m in no allusion that the weakest part of my equipment is the fleshy mess known as Matt. The hardest part of this challenge is getting my fitness up so I can compete at a high standard for 60 minutes. So for the next 6 months I’m going to start training to be able to give my all in a race, go big or go home, I want to be in top 10 for the fun category for my first year. A big task I know but why not try and give it your all.

So where do you start.
On Friday I performed my first FTP test, this gives you your sustainable power for a 40-60 minute session. The outcome of this test was 174 Watts, not the greatest number but it’s a benchmark and something to work from. At my current weight of 78kg this means I produce 2.2watts per kg. Over the next 6 months I would like to see this go up to 3.5w/kg.

I will update you all with my training plan and how I am getting on. So please keep an eye on Chain Therapy and our Facebook page for more updates.

Wish me luck,
Matt