Not sure what’s worse!
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More track laps but changed it up in the middle with a trip to Clontarf & back whilst I satisfied the requirements for Maclure. Subbed it in, in place of the higher PL, shorter Polar Bear -3
For those stuck inside, yes the sun does still exist; just holidaying in the south. Subtly but significantly cooler today here. Stopped for a shirt-soaking & a water bottle refill near the end but in retrospect I probably needn’t’ve. Back on the track, HR sensor went on the blink for a few minutes after because my baggier-than-usual shirt was flapping around. Solved by finishing the workout shirtless.
When I watched TR tick over two megajoules I thought, I would not like to be starting an interval workout now! (Reference to a TP article posted on the crazy pro workouts thread.)
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After a dull and short commute, I decided I’d do last nights skipped workout Bess on the same bike. I was probably too steady as the vast majority of it was on unlit Fen roads which are in a poor state of repair! But I think its supposed to be a recovery ride so I wasn’t stressing 
Oh and a great bonus, TR have replicated the indoor intervals on the outdoor recovery workout. Good work team TR, it helps to break up the time and it flew by 
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My first Early Birds Ride of the year (actually it’s not that early, it was once when lots of folks had young kids). It was a birthday so it was the typical cafe stop.
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My Sunday ride usually splits into two groups, a slow group and a really slow group. Only enough people turned up for one group though. So it was the short ride out to Upper & Lower Benefield. My hands were playing tricks on my mind so my cr@p descending was extra cr@p, so it’s probably a good thing I didn’t have a faster group to chase onto.
The cafe we stopped at is always busy (its in a country park) but in the summer there’s a good decking, today 
everyone was huddled inside.
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That looks awesome 
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More snow and cold today . But quite pleasant if you stay moving. The downhills get a bit chilly, but that’s not for very long.
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Local mid-week fatbike race. 1hr of heart rate redline. Amazing how warm you can get and stay when it’s 5F outside.
Stole my friends pic. That’s me on the left. For some reason my bike looks small / I look big 
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Was signed up for a 60 mile gravel race tomorrow but big storms coming in. I already traveled here with the family so rode the course today to see where my fitness is at. I fractured my scapula in November so training since then has only been mediocre while taking it a bit easy.
Temp was about 55 degrees and I went out to give it 100% effort. My previous 3 hr power PR was 207 watts in early September. My goal was to beat that, but wasn’t sure it’d happen. Pleasantly surprised as I averaged 225 watts for 3 hrs 11 minutes today. Was fully gassed at completion. Very very pleased. When I started cycling around 11 months ago my first FTP test was 222 watts. Today’s ride was also at .88 IF, which seems pretty crazy - that’s not a stat I really understood what it meant until last week, so may be average.
No photos from the ride - was too exhausted 
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There’s some great riding in Bastrop/La Grange. The MS150 route through the State Park was always a fun challenge back in the day.
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I’m staying in Buescher now with the family. Apparently even the ride between here and Bastrop state park is very popular. Bunch of cyclists on the route today. Good to know on future trips here with the family.
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The MS150 used to be a 2 day ride from Houston to Austin. It was about 180 miles, with a stop there at the park in the middle. It was always fun waking up and rolling out on day two with the fog around the park and a bagpiper playing. Then, after a day of rolling hills, riding through Austin and large cheering crowds for the last mile or so at the finish.
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That’s always been a local bucket list ride. I did the tour de houston last year and the first day of bike around the bay (my wife gave birth a few weeks before so I couldn’t justify both days lol)
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Yesterday was an audax west of the city. “Ral’s Rocky Gully Rampage”. I chose the shorter, flatter 100km option with just 470m of altitude gain. I cycled the 68km to the start point in Fernvale at a super-chill pace.
Arrived feeling like I’d barely done any riding . Quick water refill, rendez-vous with the organiser & dozen-or-so other participants & we set out. Enjoyed watching the antics of a couple of older guys as they chased each other up the gentle rises. Glad they’re not feeling too old for that nonsense.
First control was at 68km which I knew would challenge my water requirements, & when someone stopped for water at a township 24km in, I thought that was very sensible so I did the same.
The road that gives this route its name. “Ral” is the organiser. (Raoul)
Quite a nice route past farmlands. Flatlander’s paradise. 
(Please excuse my sloppy horizons.
About 75-80km into the audax I gradually started struggling & accepted I didn’t have it in me to ride home as well, so upon finishing the audax I got a lift to a train station.
Blue is the audax, red is the commute ride.
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3-4” of fresh powder makes everything very slippery. I crashed about 4 or 5 times today. But crashes are pretty benign in snow. About the worst thing that happens is some snow under the collar.
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I came off due to ice last week but I got a little further today but my left shoulder and elbow were feeling it in the 2nd half though.
HR wise it was a pretty steady Z2/Z3 effort.
It was a pretty mucky ride though.
The bike scrubs up OK though 
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The local Social ride for me today. I had wanted to go with their longer group but someone posted it was -3deg C and I think that scared everyone off. That was the wind chill at 7am but riding to the start it was 1deg and rising. I felt sorry for one slow rider in the group but the other now season old cyclists were pushing on and dropping him and not surprisingly after a bit he pulled off 
It warmed up nicely though and it was the first cafe stop of the year outside.
I had thought of going for a gravel ride when I got back but I went for a short walk instead.
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I took the day of work and joined my semi-retired mate for a cycle. It was forecast wall to wall 
but whilst there was a lot of it was a pea souper (
) at times.
It was still nice when I got back so I went for a haircut 
I might not have went a very direct route and the sun was setting by the time I got back 
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Another audax today, once again out of Fernvale. The advertising calls it “Pine Mountain Paradise”, but the ridewithgps title is “Pine Mountain Puke”, so I’m not really sure. 
I learnt from my last ride out that way a fortnight ago & nobody wanted to carpool so I drove myself & the bike there & home. Would’ve prefered to do it a bit more “green”, but c’est la vie.
A few more hills on this one. I’d set a fairly conservative power target of 170w expecting another hot day but was consistently over & finished with more left in the tank than I was expecting, which is much nicer than crawling the last 20km. Gauging my capacity for this mullarkey seems on the surface to be a moving target but there were a few more things working in my favor this time. It was cooler with more tree & cloud cover, except for the hilly section at the end. My initial water supply lasted to the 69km stop at the town of Walloon without rationing, & I finished the remaining 34km with water to spare.
A brief stop at the Tallegalla cemetery for the vista:
One of several disused railway reserves around the country that have been converted into mixed-use pathways. In townships they’ve been concreted or asphalted, but out in the wilds they’re gravel. Brisbane Valley Rail Trail spans 161km. This section in a western suburb of Ipswich:
Then back out of the city towards Fernvale… the more hilly/lumpy section of the course.
I actually took this photo on the way home but it was on course. Very different landscape from the farmlands & suburbs.
And the stats. A bit healthier. 
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A short ride out to meet some mates at a local hotel cafe and pick up my new bike.
Annoyingly on the way back I p’tured, and after CO2 ing the tubeless tyre I realised I had made a school boy error and forgot to top the sealant up and quickly decided to tube it. Thankfully, it had stopped raining after the cafe and my new kit, especially the heated gloves had kept the wrists, hands and fingers dextrous, and it was a quick job
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