Met a friend outside as per the English lock down rules. Despite taking a securitous route, to waste time, I was still early 
We then had a great run in the 
It was one of those days when everything just felt like it was flowing for me 
Took my bike off the trainer and rode it outside for only the second time in a year 
(This means switching the cassette to a different wheel and fitting that so not something I plan to do often) I’ve been riding my other bikes outside so I’ve not been a complete troglodyte!
Went for a 70km ride with 1000m of ascent - that’s flat for round here. Normalised power of 239W or 87% of my FTP. Got some decent times on targeted climbs which given I was in winter clothing I’m pleased with. Wasn’t doing too bad until I turned into the wind! Then it felt cold, temps were 7C max, so was glad to get home.
Outside on rollers under a tarp while it hailed insane. It was actually very nice.
The weather was surprisingly (and relatively) nice yesterday for the gravel bike (80% trail). Between my late start (8a, “late” being relative) and the weather, some areas had a lot of people enjoying the weather. These areas being above the clouds. Below and in the clouds, it was 5-6C, and often moist, while above it was sunny, dry, and 9C-ish. This meant a lot of polite-slowness in several areas as locals got out for what could be the last or one of the last nice weekends.
Because of the weather, I kept going and enjoying the ride. Some of the trails were still wet from recent rains, cold weather, and shade, while others were clean and dry. Ride time was 4:45 while saddle time was 5:20 (most of that was a conversation with Americans who moved to Switzerland just 3mos ago as they hiked up a mountain I was descending).
There were goat bells, cow bells, sheep bells, and, of course, church bells. Overall, a nice day in the saddle, even if I had fuel for less than a 3hr ride, stretched poorly to 4hrs.
A good time on a trail I can’t recall seeing anyone ascend on a bike but have seen plenty of mtb’s descend, often at high speed as if no one would ever ascend this. (This section is relatively smooth, with most of it rocky and rooty, making for a technical ascent.)
A “two-lane” road.
Sometimes there’s traffic that’s not bipedal. Often that means horses, but sometimes it’s more than horses, like this wagon drawn by three horses.
Nearing home and back to my local forest. Barely / not-visible are two horses with dismounted riders having a picnic. One horse, to the left and not visible, was truly huge.
On a road between trails, there’s a radar-triggered sign that always gives me a juvenile chuckle. “Thank you” or “It wasn’t me, it was the dog.”
Looks like a beautiful ride! That rocky rooty climb must have taken some seriously mad skillz on a road bike! It looks loose, too!
After the last week of dry clean roads and It turned misty overnight and after it lifted the grey skies failed to lift the damp and in the Scottish term, they were mokkit and so is the bike. Soaped it up ready for a rinse only to find my portable washer batteries were flat. Hopefully it charges up fast and I’ll rinse after dinner 
IHR TEMPO is telling you to do 1 HouR Tempo!!
Last weekend @Scheherazade challenged me to make a Strava moose, and today was the day!
That is so cool!
Had this in the “which workout did you do today” thread, but since they weren’t really TR workouts, figured it would fit better here.
Last week was the last week of the Rolling Road Race specialty phase. The weekend was scheduled to be very light (only Truuli -1 on Sat with 45 TSS), but with decent weather and the kids spending time with the horses (giving me a few hours to ride each day), I did, uh, a bit more (387 TSS) than was on the calendar. 
Planned out a nice 4 hour 120km easy ride for Saturday to explore some new roads. Aimed for 220-230, took a couple short stops here and there for pictures and answering nature’s call. Temp was 4-7C, lots of quiet roads and empty bike paths,
Sunday I originally thought I’d get an even longer base ride in, but I ended up putting in a few hours of work, so I found myself with about three hours to do something. I was reading the “sweet spot progression” thread a bit recently, and had the silly idea that I would do a roughly 100km loop I’m familiar with, and see if I can do the whole thing SS style. Packed 1.5L of drinks, a pack of clif bar chews, and off I went, warming up for 6min or so before setting the cruise control to 285W for the next 2.5 hours (one quick stop to answer my phone) 
Came back feeling good, heart rate stayed even at 140-143 for the first 2/3, then picked up a little bit to 146-150 for the last 1/3. Temps were 6-8C, perfect for me, I enjoy the cold. Have my sights on doing the same loop at 300W sometime, which would then fit TR’s SS range of 290-313, just saw that 285 is actually a touch below. Only took one picture the whole ride 
Looks lovely!
Me and the wife did the Renegade Rambler 65 mile gravel route out of Farmersville, Texas on Sunday. I did the 100 mile route earlier this year before covid and it was a blast, so it was fun getting back out onto these roads even if it was just the two of us.
It was a little foggy with some drizzle in the morning but it turned out to be an awesome day!
