This reminds me of when I used to live somewhere pan flat so I was used to non-stop pedaling. I’d do some gravel races and people from areas with hills would always comment about needing to pedal for the entire time with no breaks given by a steep descent.
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Yep, the levees in the South part of the SF Bay are great for having long stretches of bumpy windy non-stop pedaling. The only real rest I get is the descent when crossing over the bay on the Dumbarton Bridge. Bummer part is that there’s a multi year levee maintenance program going on and there’s no guarantee that the route I was on last week, will be open the next.
This is also why those 2h 30m + Endurance workouts in TR are in the catalog. That non-stop pedaling even in that zone is so good for you. Tobin mentioned that in a pod this summer. No brakes for lights, turns, coasting downhill, is crazy good training stimulus. If you want to keep it spicy pick one with random sprints in there. I guarantee that 2+ hours in, that endurance block after a sprint is going to be less than enjoyable.
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Waterton + Indian Creek Loop is the bread and butter of my Leadville training. You get long gravel stretch to do intervals or structure on then a few hours of single track then gravel back at the end not too dissimilar to inbound after Columbine.
I’m similar age and situation with work and kids, similar W/kg and training volume, and big buckled based on a TR low volume plan. I think you could do fine at Leadville with relatively minor mods, just add one “long” 3-4 hour ride per week with more specificity and you’d be fine.
This is not going to work for everyone. As you get older low volume high intensity structure becomes less effective due to slowed recovery rates and a higher volume lower intensity plan becomes necessary, Obviously based on pro’s training, higher volume is more effective than low volume for everyone, but as a time constrained athlete if you respond well to the higher intensity structure I can speak from experience of 3 LT100s that you don’t need to do regular 5+ hour rides to do well there.
The only rides I’ll do all year over 4 hours are typically 1) Bailey Hundo 2) Silver Rush and maybe 3) Triple Bypass to force myself to do one proper long endurance day.
You’re saying what I want to hear! I can definitely do a “long” 3-4 hour ride each week in addition to the usual TR stuff. I live in Hilltop, so it just takes some time to get down to Waterton/Indian Creek. I just hate riding the Cherry Creek Trail.
The Arsenal would be a good spot, knock out a few laps, good option for refueling if need be as well.