What beautiful countryside you get to ride through! Lovely pictures! Glad the day cleared up for you.
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The whole reason I check this thread almost daily is to see pics like this. Thanks for sharing!!
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Andrews (90min of 65-75%) is on the schedule for today, but the rollers went in for a warranty replacement. (So-called first world problem: I can pull my 2016 Kickr out but then I have to use my tri bike because this Kickr is skewer only, which only my tri bike has…) So, I went outside for an easy spin that felt empty. At -2C, it felt much colder as it seemed to cut through my kit as if it were several degrees lower (the official “feels like” was a zero offset). I could have stayed out long (started the clock at 4:52a… couldn’t sleep) but I was uncomfortably chilled and it was an “easy” ride during rest week.
This sort of looks like an Andrews profile, right? 
The main climb was two-thirds of a mile at 13%, up to the little dip at the top. Including the dip and further climb and the overall average gradient drops to 11%. My focus was to spin as easily as possible, well as much as possible going up trail and (actual) gravel.
I went up the main gravel path, took a right off the gravel-covered path onto trail, and then a left to rejoin the actual gravel, thus bypassing the straight shot of >13% (which is doable but I had no interest in this morning). Below is a shot where I’m about to rejoin the gravel (which was redone before winter) and hang the right.
Here’s a shot at about 6a showing dawn is indeed coming sooner. (I’ve encountered badgers here twice.)
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Looks like you turned Andrews into over-unders! 
Bummer about the rollers! I wonder if mine need some sort of service/replacement too. That dawn shot is gorgeous. It looks so clear. I was running at dawn this morning. Early mornings rock.
The issue with my rollers was with the flywheel: it was distorted and rubbed at one spot. There was a defect with it that gave a thump-thump, which was not just loud (noise canceling headphones negated this, though it was more pronounced as low-power), but distracting as it could feel like there was a defect in the tire. It also meant there was a fine-metal powder around, which I thought might mean it would resolve itself but it did not in the many weeks that passed.
Working with Elite’s great support, we tried a fix that only changed the symptoms of the problem, and temporarily at that. They determined it needed a warranty-replacement. Having bought it from an online shop in Germany, I was concerned how this would happen. That shop proved to be great as they were concerned that the time to it to them (me, near Zurich… it would have to go to Stuttgart and then to Hannover) would be too long, and, admittedly concerned about the cost to them as they’d have to cover the shipping. So they arranged for me to take it to the Swiss distributor, about a 35min drive for me. I did, they looked at it to see if they could repair it, but assessed that it needed to be replaced. So, in about 2 weeks, Elite will send a new one to me from their factory in Italy (apparently there’s still an inventory issue).
Short of the story: reach out to Elite if you think there’s a problem. Know that they do suggest calibrating the rollers with their app somewhat frequently. TR’s app thinks it can calibrate the rollers, but it can’t. And, don’t use ERG… I hope that helps.
No outdoor ride for me today. I’m feeling soft. Temp at 930a has warmed to 0C, there’s a fine dusting of snow at my altitude, there was a road-ice warning until 800, but I just don’t feel like going out in it. Kickr time later to actually do Andrews.
A nice relaxed ride for me. Only me turned up to our club run (pre covid it’d be +40 in the first session and +40 in the second session). Just as I was about to leave though a mate turned up so we went for a nice relaxed blether before his bike fit appointment. When he left for his appointment I headed for views of the Bridges. It was nice to see on the short 1/4 of a mile hill without me going hell for leather and into a 15mph headwind at the top I was faster than I was 9years ago 
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I am so glad that Elite has been so good to work with. I got the rollers about a year and a half ago and have used the heck out of them, I just wondered if they needed some sort of maintenance or something. I think I have put thousands of miles on them. Aside from my user error callibration/resistance issue, they have been really fun and amazing for me. My husband is actually amazed that they have held up so well. I am sorry that you had the flywheel issue, I hope it is all resolved quickly. Thank you for the tips. Have a great ride on the Kickr.
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Congrats on the PR!! . Bridges are so cool. Neat that they are each so different.
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Didn’t jump on the turbo as planned (tri bike’s Di2 battery was dead… hasn’t been touched since IM Copenhagen Aug '19… couldn’t find the Di2 charger… realized I needed to replace the cleats on the shoes that fit the tri bike’s pedals…), so I dashed out for a road ride at 3p as the sun was (relatively) warm and the air temp was, well, about 2C but everything was dry.
My ramp test gave me a 250 FTP which I think works for the rollers indoor but I don’t think this is my outdoor FTP. Garmin tells me, unsolicited, that my FTP is about 272. The point is this did not feel like a .87 IF ride.
In Zurich, the Opera House is straight ahead. Lake Zurich is directly to the right, perhaps 20m away.
I had to take a picture of some of the local vineyards for @bbarrera.
Straight ahead is Rapperswil with the castle, built in 1220, the prominent structure. The causeway I’ll take to get back to the otherside of the lake, and home, is visible to the right of the castle’s hill.
On the causeway.
And nearing home with the sun about to drop behind the hill.
The route is mostly flat but is bookended by a descent and the resulting climb.
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I’ve been doing MTB for the first day of spring for a few years. Takes a while to get my groove back after a winter on the trainer
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2 hour spin at the end of my recovery week. Ramp test tomorrow. Testing out my new aero bar end shifters!
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Solo Saturday two hour spin, followed up with…
A steady-ish Sunday on the lumps and bumps of the Cotswolds.
My legs were dragging towards the end and I’m glad I didn’t try and tackle the last lump I had planned. All-in-all, a good weekend on the bike
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I went to bed a bit nervous last night about my first club run in a bit, the forecast of cold and grey didn’t help. I woke up to glorious sunshine which quickly changed my mood, my garmin says it was an average of 7 deg and 9deg when we finished. I had forgotten how smooth it was descending in a group. Lol, it was most smooth on 1.65 miles descent to Burntisland, until we came across another set of temporary traffic lights. We fortunately had good visibility of them and they fortunately changed fast and we still averaged 32.4mph. To put it into perspective though the KOM is 45.9mph and the top 10 are all > 40mph 
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Awesome ride! Which Specialized bike is that? How do you like it? I’d love to get one of the Diverge models if I can convince my better half.
When the weather breaks and the wind is calm, I gotta ride to the lake and back. Helps that I’ve been trying to put a bunch of miles into my new wheels to get a feel for them, so kicking around a few shy of fifty for my last recovery week ride was a nice way to spend the middle of the day. Anyway, here are my photos and route.
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'21 Diverge Comp Carbon, in it’s road guise with 44mm Rene Herse slicks.
It’s a fast couch.
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The Comp is what I’ve got my eyes on. Thanks!
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