Riding machine

Well for my standards, I have had some good miles recently on the bike. Last week I ended with around 112 miles this week I am at 117 thus far. I had the day off Thursday and decided to tackle a long run, the heat made me shift from a more interval based ride to hitting the long ride early in the week. I missed a turn and ended up doing 36 rather than 40, so I decided to run when I got home. A quick 3 mile run. There must be something to do with the cadence/turnover of legs during brick workouts or races. I sometimes struggle to get down in the 6 minute miles when only doing a running workout, but seem to dip in with less effort after a good ride. I won't argue with this one bit!

I cleaned the drive trains on both by Cervelo and my Orbea in the afternoon and then Thursday night I rode with a group of people from work in prep for the MS150 that is rapidly approaching. We hammered out another 29 miles and felt like I made the most of my day off.

Since I am around home for this holiday weekend, I decided to get in on the group ride someone had been telling me about. Rosemount Cycling Club takes off Saturday mornings at 7:15, so I decided to hop in this week. I took the P2 and rode the bull horns most of the time. It was a great ride, hit 59 miles which was a good experience. There was one interval where we had some strong pullers that just about dropped me, I was pushing out what I could and noticed my wattage was significantly higher than normal. This tells me my 5 min power is not where it should be. My endurance is pretty good, and I climb shorter hills moderately well, but that 5 minute range is where I seem to be lacking. Luckily... I think... one of the guys behind me, who may or may not have been significantly older than me, gave me a little push, yes really. This gave me both the physical and mental boost to keep up. Thanks!

I had a great ride and learned a ton about group riding etc. The 10 mile 'home stretch' was anything goes. The group broke apart and I was in the third group that resulted. After a few miles we passed the group ahead of us and then had two guys break forward, after another mile or so I decided to make a push and catch up with them. I got out front and cleared my group and decided to hit the aero bars if I was alone. Little did I know I was also pulling another from our group that decided to break for it. We caught up and a few miles later we were done.

It was a heck of a way to kick off the weekend. Looking forward to an OWS Monday morning to get the dust off the wetsuit and ready for next weekend.

New Brighton next weekend! This should act as a good litmus test for what I have gained in a year. Last year I did it in 1:35. I have some pretty high ambitions that will hopefully kick off the season with a bang.

Have a great weekend everyone and be safe!