It’s been a while since I posted on here, so a little update for the many millions of avid readers who may have been wondering what I’ve been up to. It’s probably fair to say that I lost a bit of motivation after Paris-Brest-Paris (it was always going to be a challenge to find a new focus). The months following PBP were diffcult at work, and I let myself get out of the cycling habit.

Lockdown changed all that, and I rediscovered some motivation. I got back on the bike and slowly but surely lost a whole load of weight and worked my way back to fitness. With cafes all being closed, planning a big audax-style day out was difficult. So I found myself doing shorter, harder efforts instead, and I think it was this approach that brought some significant fitness gains.

The other thing which made a massive difference was Zwift. I’ve been using Zwift since 2016, but have done significantly more in the last year than previously. I’m a member of Team 3R – the 3 ‘Rs’ standing for Ride, Race and Raise. The ‘raise’ bit means raise money in support of the excellent World Bicycle Relief. I lead a morning work out (‘Spark’) once a week, and since the start of 2021 have been regularly representing 3R in Zwift racing. Zwift races are tough, seriously tough, but also excellent training. In the six weeks that I’ve been racing, my resting heart-rate has come down by 10bpm, and the average power that I can sustain in a race has risen by over 10%.

I’m still very much plant-powered. It’s now been two and a half years since I made the vegan switch. It was 100% the right thing to do. It’s easy, it’s healthy, and I haven’t regretted it for a minute.

The other reason for this little update is to say that there is now a Plant-Powered Pedalling Twitch channel! Head over to https://www.twitch.tv/plantpoweredpedalling where you’ll be able to watch the 3R action live (if you like the sort of thing).