The Climbing Performance that got me my UCI Pro Cycling Team contract!

A climb in the shadow of the Tumble Mountain just a few km away is this, Llangynidr Mountain. In my opinion this climb is an absolute belter!
https://www.strava.com/activities/11540094796/analysis/4540/5406

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A little about Ed….
Ed is an elite cyclist, 2019 British Hill Climb Champion and former Under 23 British RR Champion. He has raced as a Continental level Professional Rider for one of the most successful British cycling teams in Japan, Korea, Australia, Canada, Azerbaijan to name a few. He is also a public speaker, coach, and founded the on/offline cycling community, Backpedal. At the start of 2021, the Discord community began, and plonked many of Ed’s viewers in to a 550+ strong group of people that had many things in common. Not least wanting to explore the world and pedal their bikes faster!

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hey folks before we start this video I just wanted to say that you should really stay tuned over on my Instagram over the next week or so because I may have something lined up for you with regards to the H root multi-day cycling events if you’re interested in that kind of stuff yeah keep an eye on Instagram maybe something that interests you okay so we’ve got Mont two coming up this weekend actually yeah the big one um well I say the big one I mean uh it was a little bit of a last minute thing heading out to m 2 and doing the grand Fondo that’s what we’re there for actually uh is to participate in uh this 120 km Grand fundo which finishes at the top of month V 2 uh today though uh I’m out with Steve and uh we’re actually on a a big effort here at PL the mountain Chas our car indeed uh I am chasing a car uh up this climb but no in all seriousness I never got anywhere near it so you can’t flag my ride on straa or please don’t um so so we um uh I mean we had a huge Tailwind up here more month two in a second we had a huge Tailwind up here um so I think taking the K was uh was like pretty much a safe a safe bet um I I wanted to uh I wanted to do an effort that was not as long as the types of efforts I was doing for for sackal obra so that being you know 20 minutes 30 minutes I wanted to do something shorter but something harder and uh given that I went to meet Steve and uh the opportunity presented itself I thought well why not this climb I have history with this climb uh I did it way back at the junior of whales about 12 years ago when I was about 17 or 18 years old and it was where I first discovered my uh my ability as a climber uh but not necessarily as a climber I just discovered my ability to be a good cyclist a good racing cyclist and racing against my peers uh obviously the same age uh at the junor whales and uh I pulled out my first good result which then propells me to finish third overall at that stage race which at the time you know that race I think it was heavily um uh advantageous to be a climber or or at least be a strong allrounder which I I think I was um and then it it’s what allowed me to get noticed H get selected to be uh on the GB uh cycling team but I didn’t go to the World Championships uh the junior World Championships that you I missed out on selection I was first Reserve but then I did uh subsequently turn pro for um what was then rafao GLT and traveled the world raced my bike and live the dream essentially uh so that was the beginning uh this climb does bring back a lot of good memories uh probably more so than the tumble does um and uh there’s no hill climbs on this climb FL gun there is obviously on the Tumbl so Welsh Hill Climb championships has been there last couple of years um but I prefer planga if you’re a Welsh particularly uh a Welsh cyclist living in South Wales um you don’t have to be Welsh of course but I prefer planga over the tumble um there’s there’s more going on on the climb and it’s just I think generally a a nicer climb uh it’s not a Savage uh and it and it has a few corners and it has a little descent and there’s there’s always something going on so it’s like 5 and 1/2 km at about 7% average and you can tell my average speed was about 24 km an hour and that’s fairly fast for gradient that’s actually fairly steep but again we had a massive Tailwind so I decided to um to use this video as a bit of a an update video um but also you know air some of my thoughts before going to um vtu uh to provance to the south of France it’s my first time there of course uh I know the history I know how how big of a part it’s played in in the yeah history of the sport um and I’m very very excited to go there and ride the clim myself I’ve had a few messages uh from people telling me I should definitely do like a couple of different rides while I’m there but unfortunately it’s a hit and run like I’m going in and I’m doing the event and then I’m I’m coming out um sadly I won’t be there long enough to do you know any sort of substantial rides other than the grand Fondo which is on the Sunday um but I I put a couple of uh uh posts out to see if there was anybody in the area at the time which is a long shot um that would potentially be available to do a bit of a a bit of a a lead out into the bottom of the bedwan side uh of Von two the day after the grand Fondo or the morning after um if I was in the right head space and like not to jacked up and not too wrecked from uh the day before um doing the grand Fondo I would try and go full send up m 2 from the bedwan side um this this has kind of obviously been in my head for a little while um ever since going to sakra and what have you but it’s uh it’s probably less important than the grand Fondo itself the grand Fondo is obviously what I’m there to do uh and uh it’s it’s you know it’s it’s a essentially a 120 km I’m not going to call it a race but you understand how it goes it’s going to be you know uh there’s going to be a group of fast Riders going off at the start so I kind of want to be in the mix and then see what I can do at the end of it and I’ve never I’ve actually never ever ever raced a an event whether you want to call it a race or not where we’ve actually finished up a up a climb as big as that so I kind of want to give it you know a decent goal and and so preparation that’s why the videos have been a little bit sort of you know less consistent you know maybe once every four or five days yeah but like not as like consistent as I’d like them to be um over the last couple of weeks and so I’ve I’ve focused more on just like getting down to business and doing what I need to do on the bike and it’s actually showed last week I did a couple of big rides um I did a a bit of a a simulation workout where I did a couple of fatiguing efforts in in the first couple of hours of my ride before going out and doing uh 1 hour effort or it was actually a straa segment that was an hour long that we use locally to see you know who can go as fast over this 40 km segment and yeah I had a really good ride at that uh really good workout and then I backed it up with a couple of big days back to back some endurance rides and then you know I did that um that video of uh the time trial where I managed to pull out like 5.9 watts per kilograms for um for 54 55 minutes so things are obviously uh in in the ballpark that that actual time trial um I didn’t mention it in the video but it was the um it was the best power that I’ve that I’ve ever done over that specific time period um I’ve Come Close I’ve done a couple of time trials where I’ve I’ve done an hour at about 10 watts less and I’ve done a couple of time TRS where they’ve finished like 45 minutes 40 minutes at a little bit higher power so it fills a Gap a little bit uh in my power curve um and I I was quite surprised that it did Trump um well all efforts that I’ve ever done over the last 15 years actually by a couple of watts and to be honest I’ll take a couple of Watts over um at this level you know I’m I’m searching for what’s here and there uh and uh it’s good to see that that progression is still there even if it’s um you know small margins so um so things have been going well so in terms of what I do on on on V two you know the actual Grand Fondo I am going to try and you know be competitive uh and I’ll see how the day plays out and viously I want to finish well and and that will require you know piercing myself up onto the last um uh obviously in the last 20 km the event is is about 120 km so I have 100 km of um of riding with a group and and throwing off and things like that potentially and then getting to the last 20K and then trying to settle in and and there won’t be much in the way of drafting of course but you know maybe if we can stay with you know one or two three Riders then that would still be advantageous um you know if there’s a headwind or crosswind or anything like that um you know bearing in mind you know I’m I’m open to anyone that’s that’s ridden there you know I’m open to any advice from people who who have it about you know the nature of the mountain which direction you think the wind you know uh which which direction is is the best direction for the wind to be in terms of it being able to you know make the climb a little bit less of a slog um I know that’s really hard to to to say but of course and of course the Heat and things and that’s why I’ve been doing a little bit of heat adaptation stuff indoors which I need to talk about um further down the line because I think I’ll I’ll still probably keep doing it uh every now and again um and then in terms of like if I do find the time and the energy to go and like try for the uh for the for the K well not the K but you know what I mean the segment um you know cuz bearing in mind it’s uh it’s where a race has been you know V 2 is is not a place where potentially people go and test themselves it’s not a place where people um do a time trial it’s it’s generally where you know a race has gone up the toor of France of course um uh the vtu challenge um you know the early early season races and of course gcn with their with their team climbers um you know essentially they they also had a um a team or not a team but they had Riders around them um or Riders around protected Rider of course uh around Andy uh and they had a motorbike as well um and so if if I’m to do it I won’t have a motorbike or at least I’ve tried getting one but I haven’t been able to um to get someone to film and I’ve not been successful getting people people to help mainly because of of the day that it falls on and unfortunately I can’t choose any other day because I’m just tired to that um but it doesn’t matter uh if things if if I still feel good and things you know fall in place and I’m not too cooked like I said after that grand funo then then maybe that’s something to look forward to on the Monday morning um you know I might not be firing on all cylinders cuz I might still be tired of course but you know better to try than not try at all potentially if I never ever get a chance to go back so we will see what happens of course if it’s raining or there a headwind or something then you know we’ll knock it on a head and we’ll we’ll we’ll Factor it in for another time or something but the opportunity to present itself then why not um but but yeah uh I can’t really think of anything else I need to update you on other than like you know it’s it’s another miniseries um you know you’ll obviously get a video from the grand Fondo day you’ll get you know if we get a chance to even if we don’t go up V two the following day for this you know stra uh effort purely stra effort then I’ll um I’ll try and get out and do and do a ride that shows you the local area a little bit I’ll um you know still be creating content while I’m there uh around the performance and the event itself so just have something to look forward to of course uh I hope so anyway um but yeah thanks for staying patient between these you know these yeah I’m being honest like when I want to when I want to produce like videos more often than not I’m like tied between you know do I try and train and put more effort into my training and preparation and and the work side of things on and off the bike and then how can I blend the videos in with that so sometimes it’s uh it’s difficult to to get what I want to get across but thanks for staying patient and thanks for you know tuning into the videos that you want to see and you you find interes in and of course you know every now and again when we go out and and do these specials you know like go out and do these events or like go to a different place and and bring you along as well then it doesn’t necessarily have to mean anything like I don’t have to be successful in the event or don’t have to be you know um bringing you the fastest ever this or the you know the quickest ever that it’s you know it’s also reminding myself that sometimes you just want to come along for the experience of riding or seeing a new place and uh yeah that’s uh that’s what I keep that’s why I keep my reminding myself between these special days out or special trips so yeah and there we are there’s the top of uh plun like I said uh it’s a favorite of mine over the tumble it’s uh it’s got everything and I hope you like this this interesting camera angle as well I know it’s a little bit different playing around with it but um it’s the insta 360 Gore underneath and it’s capturing 360 camera which could be useful for V 2 maybe let me know in the comments down below but that’s going to be it for this one thank you so much for tuning in I hope you’re having a cracking time with your own training with your own goals and I will see you in the next video very soon [Music]