Pillar saved my life
Or at the very least my bike, phone and wallet.
First, what is Pillar?
Pillar’s website at https://www.pillar-app.com/ states “Choose from our list of 200+ cycling events worldwide, or pick your own personal goal; whether it’s climbing, sprinting or endurance. Pillar’s algorithm designs your training around your goal.”
I visited the Pillar stand at Rouleur 22 on 5 November 22 and explained that my goal was to become faster when completing my 200 km Audax DIYs. I was told that the Pillar app would provide me with a customised training plan which would be adapted as I trained. It was currently free and when a charge was introduced it would be very low, far less than individual training plans from coaches. Better still, cyclists who signed up after visiting the stand at Rouleur would receive several months of free training even after a charge was introduced.
My experience of using Pillar
My training plan began with base training, requiring me to maintain a steady cadence at a fairly low power level. By early the following week my plan included VO2 max microbursts to develop my ability to work in zones 5, 6 and 7 - sprinting. It was this emphasis on sprinting that was to be so important two weekends later on a 200 km DIY.
What happened?
I was about 145 km into my ride. I usually take the same route to and from West Drayton, using Falling Lane. For this ride I had planned to ride through a housing estate so as not to use the same road in both directions. Bad mistake!
Riding fairly leisurely - I’d done 145 km and time was on my side - I passed two teenagers on a mountain bike. Shortly after, I became aware of them coming alongside me: whether the Garmin radar beeped or whether I just glanced to the side, I cannot remember. What do I remember very clearly is a foot aimed at me and coming very close.
This is the sort of situation that can become very ugly, very quickly. OK, my bike is insured through Laka but I’d no desire to wait months for a custom replacement, nor to spend time recovering from a fall or worse. Using my new found sprinting ability, I accelerated to a junction where I found the safety of a busier road.
Maybe those two boys just wanted to alarm me. Maybe if they had knocked me off, they might have tried to make off with the bike, my phone and wallet. Maybe I’d have been injured quite seriously. I doubt they had a knife but who knows?
Thanks to Pillar
for helping me ride at a steadier cadence - for years I have found my cadence rising to an unsustainable level after which I would freewheel, then start again
for helping me develop my sprinting and
for helping me get out of what could have been a very ugly situation.
