3rd Saturday in a row with at least 100 miles. 126 felt good, could have gone longer physically. Happy I wasn’t though 
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This past week has been my scheduled R&R week, before I head into SusPB or just have a play with TrainNow. This week was timed perfectly.
On Saturday, I joined 24 other local-ish riders for a challenge ride to raise funds for SADs (Sudden Adult Death). We rode three laps of the Top Bracket Route, a training loop devised by Nick, who sadly passed away from SAD.
So, we rolled out at dawn, in groups of six and didn’t stop, except for mechanicals, toilet breaks and lunch, until dusk. It was emotional and challenging but above all, it was a great day on the bike. So far, we’ve raised just over 6k for the charity! 
If it’s not on STRAVA…
Group 3
Three times up Edge Hill. With 120+ miles in the legs, you feel this.
Little coffee shop which opened just to support the four teams.
My teammate James. This man can change a tube in the blink of an eye!
Last climb of the day. Sunrise Hill. 16% of pure hell. This came with 160+ miles in the bank.
Needless to say, I’ll be sticking to one hour crits for the rest of 2021 
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De Veluwe. Which is located in the centre of the Netherlands.
A great place to ride gravel, mtb as well I’m the road!
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Truly epic, even more so for the cause. Well done!
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The club’s training ride went out east again as per the wee c rules. Which isn’t ideal when it’s a prevalent west wind. After yesterday (zero wind) the wind came back with vengeance. One good thing is the hills are better out there.
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Escaped the spring of eastern Switzerland for the spring of Valencia, Spain. While home has a frost warning through the end of this week (it’s Sunday now, mind you) and snow is in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, though “only” a low of -3C (paired with a high of 1C, here it is a relatively balmy 15C. After sleeping in on this Easter morning, I finally lazily got ready for what I intended to be an easy spin, not to exceed 200w / stay within Z2, on the flats south of Valencia.
I rolled out the door with a windbreaker under a very gray sky and wet ground, apparently it rained, and with a 70% chance of rain in the next hour. Soon, with a long sleeve jersey under the thin wind breaker, a thin long sleeve mesh base, I was too warm and the unzipped jacket was flapping in the wind. At the hour mark, beyond my intended turn around, I decided I was enjoying the ride and the family not having plans, I stopped and texted the wife to ask if it was ok to keep on. Of course (she’s enjoying doing nothing as well and the two teenagers are happy doing their own thing) is the reply. So I continue. There are a few cyclists about, some wearing masks as they ride, some with the mask below their chin, and a few without a mask. I have mine in waterproof sealable pouch (like for a cell phone) in my jersey just in case. I thought I knew the rule but seeing some serious looking cyclists wearing masks either over their face or under their face makes me wonder each time I see a policeman whether I’ll be stopped. I wasn’t.
Anyway, the route was flat – in 45 miles I climbed barely more than 400’, less than in my 5.4mi run Friday – with some wind, which was generally if not always a cross wind, with relatively boring scenery. It’s less boring under a sunny sky but it is not a scenic route. I turned back just before a lighthouse that have provided the only good picture of the day, and packed away my windbreaker for the ride home.
Toward the end, I was thinking about food, the horchata I’d have as my recovery drink, the cinnamon pop-tarts, and perhaps the jamon flavored chips (crisps, not fries) I was craving. I had eaten a spinach empanada and two cups of tea in 3.5hrs between waking and rolling, taken zero fuel with (not a gel beforehand, not a gel with me), and a 3/4 filled small bottle of plain water. I had planned on a short 75 maybe 90min spin. Near the end, the RPE was definitely increasing. Still, a good day on the bike… and it didn’t rain.
A couple of pauses (annoyingly & consirably) brought down my average speed. Early pauses were for traffic lights getting out of the city, slowdowns at roundabouts with all the people apparently going to the beaches for paella restaurants and walks (? I guess ?), and the longest was texting the wife.
Interestingly, TrainerRoad says my elevation gain was 923’ when both Garmin and Strava reported 423’. In Strava, I clicked the option to correct the elevation and after thinking about it, Strava changed the ascent to… 234’ ! Huh.
Like I wrote, uninteresting.
No signs to watch for frogs, but a permanent sign to watch for ducks.
This sign has a common reminder to vehicles that a) they need 1.5m between their vehicle and cyclists, and b) cyclists may be two-abreast.
Yup, a lot of boring, flat road. To be fair, nearly the half the ride had trees on one side and just before here I passed what looked like, and smelled like, a frangipani orchard.
While traffic was thick getting out of Valencia, the traffic was a bit lighter re-entering the city.
Now for some paella…
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That’s a big ride this early in the year. Well done!
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Thx. The landscape around here makes it easy to take good pics. Great riding also.
3rd outdoor ride in a week! That’s 3 more than normal 
Although I’ve learnt to hack long Z2 on the trainer that was quite a nice spin. My legs were pretty dead after 2.5 hours of sweetspot yesterday, but as this was solo I just rode it by feel. Don’t know where a speed of 20mph came from in TR, as it was closer to 19.5mph IRL.
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That’s a bit different than your normal rides!
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You could stay in Scotland and you wouldn’t need to travel. We had zero winds sunshine 15deg C yesterday, 38mph winds today and supposedly -3 deg overnight 
TR always says my rides are higher than Garmin/Strava. IIRC my ride today was 3,300ft in Strava but +4kft in TR. TR seems to be on a par with RWGPS.
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TR is always too high. BTW last night I finally setup Bontrager Aeolus Pro 3V wheels with CushCore and the TyreWiz and it’s pretty sweet to spin the wheels and see red (pump ‘em up) or green (go ride!).
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I didn`t ride today because of very bad weather(
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Did my first full metric century of the year today. Snapped this pic at the beginning of the ride. It was a gorgeous day and I underestimated my time to completion (had Town Hill for my workout and wanted to hit TIZ). Ended up riding an extra five miles to make it work. Those last 20 minutes were a mental battle as the fatigue was really starting to settle in.
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A lovely warm day in Wales for Easter Sunday. Took my planned session outdoors.
4x 10 mins at threshold with 2 min recoveries. Couldn’t quite hit the numbers today but HR was definitely up where it needed to be.
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I will dearly miss Mallorca.
For everyone who hasn’t been for cycling, it is an absolute dream destination.
It has many climbs, several smaller ones (100 to 300m of ascent) plus a few big ones (Tùnel de Monnabar (6.1%, 820m climbing), Sa Calobra (7%, 660m climbing), Sobrument (10%, 550m climbing), Coll de Soller (5.7%, 420m climbing).
Most of the climbs have perfect asphalt, rather little traffic, a lot of hairpins, and are pretty achievable for all levels of cyclists.
Also, there are road cyclists everywhere and so many caffés and bars where they are very welcome (with bike parking, cycling food etc).
The weather was an absolute dream, just over 20C and a little wind the entire time. I was riding short sleeves, bib shorts the entire time with merino sleeves at my disposal, and it never got cold or too hot.
The restrictions due to COVID weren’t that big of a deal. Cafes and restaurants close at 5pm, so I did my rides around then, to have a nice coffee stop on time and have dinner at the hotel.
I must say that I like Mallorca even better than some of the other dream destinations I have been to (Alpe Maritime, Tenerife, Valois CH, Bavarian Alps).
I will thoroughly miss it, with Germany currently having slight snow fall and storm warnings 
.
Here go a few highlights:
OJ Shack, fresh orange juice and good coffee right between Sa Calobra and Puig Major
Especially Sa Calobra, Tunel de Monnabar (Puig Major), and Coll de Soller are among my top 10 riding experiences ever. The good times on Sa Calobra and Coll Soller make This an even better memory.
Totals:
- 9 days
- 8 rides
- 500+km
- 10,000m+ climbing
- 1,000+ TSS
- 14,000+ kcal burned
- 20h+ on the bike
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You can see the exact moment my soul left my body at 900m, after 3km of roughly 10%. I had planned to go all the way to the top, but the thoughts of another 8km of this just made me cry, so I popped down for a lakeside spin instead. I’ll give it another go after some more hill intervals, I dont think any amount of TR can prepare you for this sort of bullsh1t.
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Went out for a test run of a “local” hill that’s 5+km, 460m (3.2mi / 1500’) for 9% average. The fun part, I found, is the second half with its short 16% kicks and general ±12%. My goal was simply to PR (it being my first time and all) and to kept the throttle pulled out, turning the pedals, and enjoying what view there was. I’ll hammer it another time.
This doesn’t compare to Majorca and @Aeroiseverything’s ride, but it is better than back home in eastern Switzerland where the temp is about 1C and falling with snow falling soon (possibly as I write this). Sadly, tomorrow’s forecast here is a high of 14C with complete overcast.
It was a cool start so I had my arm warmers, which I would have removed except for a concern that the cool weather would make the descent chilly (nope, it warmed up).
It’s always fun to look down and see where you are on the hill.
I’m less than a k from the top.
I’ve got to say that as much as I enjoy riding the bike pictured – my 2015 Pearson Hammerandtongs, which is really a 2015 Ridley Helium under the paint with basic Fulcrum wheels – I can feel the difference between it and my bike in Switzerland, a 2019 Factor VAM. I keep gaming how to raise the topic of replacing my 2015 with my wife and I have yet to land on a scenario that ends with me married, alive, and with a new bike.
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