Where did you workout (ride, run, etc) OUTSIDE today? (2025)

[HLaB]

I’ve not posted for a while but true to form (and probably Bad form) I’ve been riding a bit:

I was feeling strong before my ‘A’ event (a group ride) and smashed it a bit the Thursday before last (17 Apr) and blew up the two I was riding with.

So much so they were too worn out for the Good Friday (18 Apr) recovery ride. Whilst it was a recovery ride it annoyingly meant there wasn’t really a group and I had to drag home the weaker rider whilst keeping an eye on the other rider who randomly floats off (for a ex professional rugby player he’s not really got a sense of team playing).

Anyway I was off to Calpe on the Saturday (19Apr) and started strong, despite my lack of descending ability.

The next day (Sunday 20th) started OK too and I was 4th up the Bernia without going too deep. Then my hands started playing up on the longish descent and I let that put me off and ended up dropped. I caught the last two riders just as they were going wrong directionally and whilst I was going right directionally stopping for then somehow switched our Garmins onto the first part of the route which took us up the Bernia again.

Easter Monday (21st Apr) started OK but we stopped too long before the main climb and I got too cold below the ankles. The net result I was 7mins behind my Val de Ebo PB of 2 years ago (29.44). Frustratingly, after having problems with my hands the day before I let that play on my mind descending and had to chase back a little too much. That was the day before the recovery ride, so it shouldn’t have been a problem.

Except although Tuesday (22nd Apr) was a recovery pace I wouldn’t exactly call it a recovery route.

Wednesday (23rd) wasn’t too bad despite the lack of recovery until we stopped at a cafe for a drink before the main Port du Tudons climb and in the shade I got a bit cold below the knees again, the net result I was again down on my PB of 2 years ago (57mins) by a massive 11mins. I wore thin arm warmers for the descent which stopped my hands going completely numb though

Thursday (24th) started not too bad until someone decided we’d have a seeded time trial up the Col de Rates and setting us off according to previous times. I was 4th fastest on Handicap with a 23:36 which meant I was hanging around for ages and again below the knees got to cold for proper blood flow. Lol, and there was no way I was getting my 2009 KOM back

Some folk on the Friday (25th) went off to smash themselves on a big ride but I was convinced to take a more relaxed ride along the coast. After recovering on the way out I gave it a wee bit of a blast up the hills on the way back and keep a reasonable pace for me on the descents.

Saturday (26th Apr) was an enforced recovery day due to travelling.

Back to Todays (Sunday 27th April) workout (well not really a workout, just a ride). I think I’d have managed the slightly faster group ride giving the local terrain, but I forced my self out with the slower group. It started overcast but, it was forecasted soon to burn off to 20+ degrees so I wore a very thin windproof. Within 45mins it did indeed burn off and was as bright it had been in Calpe last week, but I took the jacket off prematurely and into a bit of a chilly (well chilly for me these days post chemo) the hand numbed up again until we eventually turned out of it an hour later. Lol, a numb hand is easier to deal with though on the local terrain

[Pbase]

Sounds like a fantastic trip! Got some great pics too.

[roleypup]

Looks awesome! How many red days?

[roleypup]

Last night I went for a jog to complete the image that popped into my head a week ago when I was out for a short run. 4½km to do this:

I thought initially it looked like a horse but maybe it’s a dog.
Couldn’t draw the ears because at that point Rainbow St is a separated grade divided road.

[HLaB]

None, but practically every day was a yellow email day!

[JoPage]

I did a 100 km z2 on tiny lanes… with a z3 bit of a blip in the middle to climb a hill and eat party rings with a view. Plus a quick stop on the way home for some sunshine pics.

[HLaB]

Not quite the workout I had planned but a workout none-the-less. I arrived back from work put my contact lenses in and passed a local chaingang start about 7 minutes after they would have left with the intention of doing a solo workout. About 5 minutes later one of the faster groups was stopped for a p’ture. About 2-3 minutes into my cool down interval after the warm up they came by and beckoned me to join. I thought about it for a bit (the spicy wrap I had at lunchtime disagreed with my stomach and I’d only really eaten flap jacks), I should have been sensible but I sprinted on. It was probably more of an under/over threshold effort than the planned SS workout but hey ho. One annoying thing we lost the group and had to soft pedal for 2-3minutes to let it regroup during which time I got too cold. I carried on for 30 minutes before my hand got too numb and I had to sit on the back for 3 minutes before coming through again. I didn’t last long before my hand numbed up again and this time I dropped back too much and was dropped.

[HLaB]

I was too late home tonight to catch the local chain gang so it was a solo workout, my programmed SS one (Tray Mountain -2, 3x(12min SS Intervals/ 4min off)). I actually caught one of the groups mending a p’ture in the middle of an interval but I’m no good to anyone if I get cold and there was too many cooks as it was, so I said hello and sped by. Perhaps Karma came back to haunt me as I got a bit lost in the Fens and I had to keep up the pace for another 55mins to stay warm. I thought I was going to get cold at the ECML level crossing thats always down but it actually rose when I was a few hundred metres from it. Great motivation to keep the speed up as if it came down again I’d been standing there for another hour. I caught the slow group again and a rider followed me and thats when my pace finally dropped so I wouldn’t drop him

[roleypup]

For this morning I was precribed Monte Cuar. Some short sections at very low endurance, some sprints, but over two thirds of the remaining time in Z1. So the sprints happened on the cycleway then I took it out on road where AT would not penalise me for failing to hold the target in the easier sections.

It’s a beautiful day for a ride by the bay. Heading north towards Redcliffe:

Turned inland towards the cycleway constructed ajacent to the train line.

My first thought when I saw the concrete walls topped with razor wire was a wondering if there was a new prison built that I didn’t know about, but no, it’s just the stabling yard for the trains near the Kippa-Ring terminus.
A little further along the path:

Up past the rich people’s houses & boats nestled in the bay:

Then this one out on the seacoast. Whoops.

Took the footpath/cyclepath/leisurepath instead of the road since the numbers didn’t matter so much.

I still had to go back on road to get around the headland.
Took the most direct route home & got there just under two hours.

I’ve been given the workout next week too. Wondering if it’s outside the spirit of the workout to stop for a gelato at the 1h30’ mark.

[rkoswald]

Andrews
Anacostia Park, MD

Nice easy Z2 spin on a gorgeous morning.

[HLaB]

The Endurance ride (Black) was in my calendar tonight which for outdoors is just one long Z2 block, bookended by Z1 intervals.

Knowing it was low tempo I wore winter socks, longs, jersey and gloves. I could have done with thicker gloves and a jacket though; it was

[CincoGirl]

Don’t tell anyone that I ride bikes.

[rkoswald]

There’s no shame in asking for directions to MM 0. That thing is hidden and not really on the towpath anyway, at least not the dirt part. Anyway, awesome ride. Love the doll pic and proof of life (er … riding) to your daughter.

[Morzak]

So had my first proper race of the season on Saturday. The Berner Rundfahrt which is a really well organized event that has Elite Men and women in the morning and then the fin races from Noon. Decided to do the 3 lap race which is 100k with 1200m of elevation, previous years I always did the 2 lap version. Tried to stay with the field as long as I could on the uphill drag put of town but probably invested a bit much there and paid a bit on the steep part towards the top. Found a decent group of 8 or so but 2 riders just would not pull through… Stayed with the group until the steep part in lap 2 managed to get back to it over the top and downhill… In lap 3 I had barely anything left uphill and was just happy to find a group after the climb and made it to the finish. Hit season best for 8 to 20 min power and 2nd highest 20min ever so pretty good.

On Sunday I did ride to my parents for mothers day and back… Had bloating on the way there and back it got real bad so couldn’t really get much in and was pretty empty…

[Morzak]

Did 3x15 min threshold up a local climb, who and intervals.icu used my ftp to 312 /314. Went at around that and feels about right maybe a few watts to high… After that tacked on 1.5h to enjoy the weather.

View from the top of the climb

[HLaB]

I was supposed to ride with some one but he cancelled at the last minute so I fired up last nights work out that I had to skip because of train chaos necessitating 18miles of a cycle into headwind from Huntingdon last night. So I didn’t really have much motivation to start. The wind was colder and stronger tonight and I quickly had no motivation at all, the result being the SS intervals were more like tempo blocks. I think the motivation drained completely when the ECML barriers were down for nearly 10mins! Well I guess that means the trains are running again :-/

[roleypup]

Ah, gotta cut yourself some slack sometimes. Still some meaningful TIZ.

As usual I’m not sure whether this belongs here or in the What workout did you do today? thread. Or perhaps in the What are your embarrassing or shameful bike confessions? thread.

Threshold was yesterday, Sweetspot was scheduled Friday, 3h Z2 scheduled on Saturday. Rain is expected tomorrow so I brought Z2 forward to today & pushed SS back to Saturday.

So today I went to the track to do Broken Hand. Perhaps appropriate, on Saturday I’d taken some skin off my hand trying to shove a push-mower’s grass catcher into the back of the car, & during yesterday’s workout I’d reopened the wound by putting the bike & myself on the floor when I did a tight turn on the cycleway & hit some greasy asphalt. Gloved hand, but still, impact on a recent wound isn’t great.

Anyway, back to the workout. Beautiful afternoon.

Map looks the same as most of my other Z2 or long-interval workouts for the last month.

Paused the workout at the 1h55’ mark for 5 minutes to take a phone call from the shop about the bike I stacked yesterday.
Saw a friend at the track who was doing his ten flat-out laps he does almost every day, regardless of the weather, had some chats before he took off home. Good mates photograph your .

Hey it was a nice afternoon, some goon just happens to be in the way.

I headed back home on the cycleway with 35’ left in the workout because it’s continuous enough to safely hold Z2. I’d failed to account for the early sunset of late autumn when choosing lighting (or rather, lack thereof). At least there was minimal public road to traverse. Cooldown started with two minutes of cycleway left before exiting. Home without incident.

Almost-three-hour workout, didn’t take any fuel because I’d had quite a fibrous lunch, it was “only Z2”, I was questioning whether much would absorb, & because the aero bars were on the bike in the shop I only had space for two bottles anyway. After having got used to consuming 120-150g of sucrose per hour, I got back from this unfuelled ride wanting to empty the snacks drawer where I keep my protein mix. I confess that the raspberry jam biscuits & dried fruit mix took a hammering. Lesson learnt: fuel anyway.

Not the best decisions, but thankfully minimal impact.

[rkoswald]

Window
Prince William County, VA, USA

3 x 10 threshold with 5 minutes of recovery. Had 3 x 10 over/unders scheduled but wasn’t really feeling it, plus it was super nice outside with temps in the mid 80s F, stiff breeze, and clear skies after passing storms last night.

[HLaB]

Out into the Fens tonight for and endurance ride (TR Black) well one long (49mins) Z2 interval (except for the wee bit avoiding a cr@p surface, I paid more attention to the car on my tail than the power meter and there’s 30s of Z3)

[Pbase]

Happy cake day!