Nice in 2 weeks the Goldtour is on the schedule for me. I would do the silver in reverse so you can climb the gottardo on the tremola side but either way it’s a beautiful route and a hard one especially the Furka and Nufenen.
Did my last big ride before the alpenbrevet, legs weren’t good couldn’t really put out normal power on the Wildspitz climb. And after that it got really hot and I suffered from it a lot.
The last 3 weeks weren’t that great overall can really only do 1 hard session power week can’t seem to recover from it fast enough to do a proper second session.
That’s awesome. My son and I race in the south east. He’s currently 5 under intermediate and got 9th in the state last year. I’m currently 40-45 intermediate and won the novice championship last year. Not sure how much bmx we will do this year because MTB racing season is also starting at the same time.
Yes, we descended some of the Tremelo cobbles instead I was riding blind just following some randoms gpx off Strava, I didn’t realise he’d gone the wrong way
It’s great you get to race with your son. You are in the group that I have to “race” the most which leaves me out of the Mains".
I was told we will only be doing local races and state championship races next year since the grandson will be racing his snow skis this year for the local team. Lots of road trips in the mid Atlantic and a long trips to Vermont and New Hampshire.
I got woken up by a WhatsApp at 8.30am, a group of mates were meeting for a ride at 10am. I got up had breakfast and went out for a relaxed 10miles before I met them just to check I wasn’t too jittery. After we met the first 3/4 of the ride to the cafe were pretty full on into a headwind but coming back after was pretty relaxed with a tail wind.
I came back and had lunch and then went out to test my gravel bike. On the whole the damage is just cosmetic but the rear derailleur hanger is slightly off, not enough to make it rub the spokes but enough to compromise shifting under load. Into the shop it’ll go.
A nice recovery ride for me tonight. I was expecting a Z2 ride leading round the local beginners group. Lol only one person turned up so it ended up more like Z1.
It was the correct route for the silver tour. Just that the other way is s bit nicer but both ways provide plenty of nice views and climbs. Did the Gottardo 2 times with a gravelbike but still have to ride it up from the tremola side. Maybe next year .
I pressed the button on AIFTP last night. A subtle two-watt bump despite quitting three threshold workouts early thanks to various reasons. It’s been hot for a winter month. I was surprised by the increase, given I thought I was relegated to sub-threshold only until I acclimatise. So today I started early when the air was still cool: “only” 19°C, & did Prater -5, a time crunch workout (which I picked as a bit of a taper before a 300 km audax this weekend). Crushed it. Cooling matters! Managed to fit the 4½’ intervals in on the cycle path between two places where braking would be required, so didn’t have to go far from home.
But then I decided to fly in the face a bit of the purpose of a taper, by crossing the bridge from Brisbane’s north to Redcliffe, adding 16 km each way. But I kept it pretty easy: around 50%. I thought of it as linking two heatmaps. Headed to my favorite café, which fortuitously was opening about 15’ after I arrived in the area. Rolled a little further around the bay & back to indulge in an iced choccy.
There’s a definite smog line hanging over Brisbane. I always knew it was & would be there, but it does seem more noticeable after appreciating the immaculately clean air at Hobart.
Ive had a bit of a headache all day, but it could be the last good and light night of the summer, so I went for it Sill -4. Lol, based on last night’s ride I thought I’d get finished before the Woodwalton drop (steep enough for me to touch 40mph) but I still had a few intervals to do, so rather than pedalling out down it, I went deeper into the Fen. Only issue after the minute Z1 cool down rather than ‘Spin easy for 1 minute, longer if you can’, to get hone before dark and stay warm so I wouldn’t go numb, the longer wasn’t ‘easy’. I had lights though and when I stopped to put them on I accidently reset/ saved the ride. Which was a good job as a bloke caught me at the lights and started chatting. It would have rude to have sped of so the Z1 ride meant I got back just after ‘lighting up time’
Not the best prep for the last N&DCA TT for me today. Yesterday I thought the canteen shut at 3pm, only to find it shut at 2.40pm. So I raided the vending machine for lunch and I think I over did the iced flapjacks or something. Anyway it been a liquid stomach all the way to the start. I met some mates at a cafe beforehand and thought I felt better on the return but not long after
The out leg on the TT felt not bad into a stiff headwind and I timed the multiple roundabouts right. I thought I’d timed the turn roundabout right but after I passed the arm to a village a car pulled out at my back wheel, and in the tricky side wind I sat up and stayed sat up. I can usually sit at 92-95% max HR and push it to 97-99% for the finish. Today was sub 89% for the most part and I only pushed to 90% in the last 1/3 of a mile. Ive not ate anything yet and I am watching the Vuelta re-live but at least there hasn’t yet been any liquid stomach visits yet.
Metric century in my usual stomping grounds of the farmlands southwest of Manassas, VA. 71F and 93% humidity at the start, so the meme of the underwater cyclist that I copied from Facebook was apropos. Weather forecast showed little chance of rain, but apparently that was only for Prince William county. I ran into a 45-minute long shower in Fauquier, though. On the flip side, my bike and shoes are clean, and I have a freshly re-waxed chain.
Fall wildlife are starting to appear. Saw two different groups of wild turkeys, including one in flight to join the others; canadian geese migrating south in a nice aero echelon; and a cotton tailed rabbit that challenged me to a sprint (I won, but only because I was going downhill ).
I’ve done this distance three times already, but all in the teens & low twenties on the celcius scale. Made the call of shame & got rescued. Last I wanted was to get delirious on a country road ages from anywhere. There were three others doing this route & one of them quit at that point too.
I really should’ve pulled out when I saw the forecast a few days prior, which said 32°C. Unseasonably hot even here for a “winter” day.
Consumed 4.3L + electrolytes, + a third 550mL bottle containing 400g of carbs. (My water consumption per unit distance rivalled the fuel consumption of a motorbike.) Sat on .57IF until I hit the wall. I really don’t think that riding easier would’ve helped me, because that would’ve simply meant more time out in the sun.
Lesson learnt.
Here’s a pic of me before I suspected I should question my sanity:
Heavy rain overnight which lasted into the morning and put of a lot of riders from my Sunday group ride, so we merged groups. That meant it had to be carefully paced not to drop folk; not that the usual faster group s that fast. After Friday and with my stomach still 95% empty you never saw me complaining though and a shorter zone 1 ride to a local cafe was exactly ‘what the doctor ordered’. It’s been a beautiful afternoon and I’ve had to resist going out again luckily the Glasgow Derby and the Vuelta was on by way of distraction.
I was riding blind just following some randoms gpx off Strava, I didn’t realise he’d gone the wrong way 
.
But I kept it pretty easy: around 50%. I thought of it as linking two heatmaps. Headed to my favorite café, which fortuitously was opening about 15’ after I arrived in the area. Rolled a little further around the bay & back to indulge in an iced choccy.
” was what I called it on Strava.
