Cycling Weekly – July 25, 2019

52 | July 25, 2019 | Cycling Weekly

S

omething is definitely

happening, but I’m not

sure what! Over the last

three weeks, my legs have

started coming back —

not just to where they

were two months ago but to their absolute

peak. I’m feeling fitter and stronger all the

time; my numbers and performance have

gone through the roof.

At the start of this project, in April,

my main aim was to lose weight, and I

got down from 105 to 100kg relatively

quick ly but soon began to struggle with

a drop-off in performance. So just lately I

have been eating a bit more, and it seems

to be making

a difference.

Perhaps I’d

been under-

fuelling

slightly.

R ight now

I’m at 101kg

but I’m feeling

so good on

the bike that

I’m going to

ride this wave

as long as I

possibly can.

Box Hill PB

Two weeks ago I made an attempt on Box

Hill — gunning for my target of sub-six

minutes — and came away with a new

PB of 6.25. That was an average power

of 437 watts, compared to my previous

best of 404 watts, an improvement of

THE BIG

CW FITNESS

PROJECT

On a mission to climb Box Hill in under six minutes, former rugby pro

Gareth Mason is delighted with his recent progress

‘My legs are

coming back!’

nearly 10 per cent. During my long ride

last Saturday, I put in a five-minute effort

averaging 478 watts — I’m improving far

quicker than expected.

I think sub-six up Box Hill needs 460

watts, so I’m getting there. In a recent

one-hour ride, I managed 365 watts

for 20 minutes,

predicting an

F TP of about

350, which is

significantly better

than at the start of

the project.

It seems as

though losing

weight might not

be the best priority

for me right now,

given that my

performance is

improving rapidly.

Of course, I do

still want to lose

weight: I’ve been

steering clear of

business lunches, and

making an effort to

eat sensibly — fewer

simple carbs, meaning

much less bread

and pasta.

I also met with

sports psychologist

Josie Perry, who

came up with some

suggestions for me.

According to Josie, I

don’t have any of the

classic triggers for comfort eating, such

as reaching for a chocolate bar under

stressful situations. My only diet issue

is overeating in terms of portion size; for

example, finishing up an unnecessarily

big plate. We talked about making sure

I keep a food diary every now and again,

just to stay aware

of how much

I’m eating.

RideLondon

approaches

My big target now

is R ideLondon in

three weeks’ time

[August 4], and by

then I hope to be

under 100 kilos,

with a power-to-

weight of 3. 5W/

kg, in which case

GARETH MASON

Age: 40

Height: 6ft

Weight: 101kg

Hometown: Bookham, Surrey

THIS MONTH’S GOAL

QClimb Box Hill in under six minutes

Progress report: set a PB of 6.25

UPCOMING GOALS

QFinish RideLondon in under 4.5hr

QLose a further 10kg

QAchieve power-to-weight of 4W/kg

Gareth’s confident he

can hit all his targets

Box Hill is the chosen form test and

sub-six minutes is the goal