Speaking of merging groups of differing abilities, there used to be (I don’t know if it’s still going; this was 20 years ago) a big group that left from Brisbane on Sunday mornings on a 100k loop to the north. The faster bunch kept the pace easy & towed the slower bunch at about 30kph for about the first 35k, after which the faster group opened it up & did a longer circuit past the Scarborough boat harbor, whilst the slower group shortcut to Redcliffe. Both groups merged at the bakery for the coffee stop, then the trip back was at the slower group’s pace again. I thought it was quite a good format.
I’ve been riding on Zwift every Wednesday morning with a small group for the last five-ish years. The group is made up of people in the US, Canada, the UK and Spain that met through various events and group rides and decided to form our own group. This weekend the North American contingent met for the first time and had a blast! We met in Niagara Falls in Canada. The cycling was fun and the company was phenomenal!
I had a good time at the Colesburg Back 40 gravel race yesterday. Oldest ongoing race in the midwest, very unique course, almost never a straight road and the same amount of climbing per distance as steamboat gravel even though it is in Iowa.
This is so cool!!!
Damn, I was there(not racing)! The 40 miler is my favorite! I grew up in that area and it really is a hidden gem for riding!
Great job! I definitely enjoy the buzz of completing a session in aero position. What exactly was the difficulty?
breathing mostly. was much hard to ‘control’ my breathing. Part of that is the position, part is the adrenaline of doing 30mph and pushing threshold watts. Even on normal position, pushing threshold always feels easier at slower speeds for some reason. The legs actually felt pretty good.
Did my last harder efforts on Sunday before the he alpenbrevet on saturday. Went over the local hills at threshold. My fabero assume uno seems to have died… First nothing while loading then strange light patterns and now nothing again… Oh well will ride with the SPD version from the gravelbike for now…
Wathwr looks good now for the weekend, probably just relatively cool on the mountains.
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5x 4 min VO2max
Hains Point, Washington, DC, USA
VO2 intervals are soooo much easier outside. Gates were closed until dawn, which makes the course more conducive to 4- and 5-minute intervals vice 2-minute, which is what was originally scheduled. Used JOIN’s “shuffle” feature to select this workout, which is essentially identical to TR’s “alternates.” Felt surprisingly good given how little true VO2 work I’ve done.
Lol, I maybe made that harder it should have been. My rear tyre felt a little soft but given I thought it would be more of a social ride I thought with it being a 32mm tyre it would be OK and I’d opt for comfort. Just me and another mate turned up. He usually sits at the back and has brief flurries of being really strong but today he was strong the whole ride (or at least the part I done with him).
The inside of my elbows ache still (perhaps I should have worn full arm warmers, rather than arm skins) and perhaps I haven’t got fully over last weeks flu (although I sweated it out over night my stomach wasn’t solid until yesterday) but when he said he needed to get home, I opted for a coffee stop (I think my elbows would have given out completely the way I was feeling).
Needless to say when you include the full ride (including solo bits) the ride average is less.
Kinda reassuringly, when I finally mustered a pressure check I had 40psi front/ 30 psi back which probably pushed me over the edge.
Moose aren’t too bothered by humans. Unlike elk who bolt as soon as you get close. I cut my ride short yesterday. Three moose eating berries by the side of the trail. Using the trail to get up the mountain. Waited for 10 mins behind them before I decided they weren’t going anywhere and turned around. A mom with two calves. So I didn’t want to risk a pass.
Can’t just ring your bell and yell “on your left!” 
I’ve only ever seen a moose in the wild once, and had same experience. They could care less if you want them to move. Was at Rocky Mountain National Park. We were in awe.
That’s a great blue.