Weekend Riding - Super Sunny Spinning
Yip - lovely weekend!
Friday was a full rest-day, climbing partner couldn't make it, and felt my hands could use a break after two days back on the wall last week. Ready for tomorrow, got a climb planned for the late afternoon.
Saturday - OBB Ride
Gorgeous day, full-on sun. Didn't even feel like the 4C it was out, nice!
Smaller turnout, maybe ~25 riders. So we split into two group, i much prefer a smaller pack of ~12 riders. People do shorter, more steady pulls, much smoother training...all i'm looking for these days as racing season is over!
It was an uneventful ride out to Sidney, enjoyed the bright day, everything looked crisp and clean. The water on some of the fields was frozen over as well.
Dressing for the cool weather is a series of layers.. I've got the full leggings RS tights from Sugoi, and my OA shorts overtop (i generally wear 2x shorts. The OA ones are light on padding anyway.) On top i had a basic base layer, my OA Verge thermal jersey and OA Mt Borah windbreaker. Neck 'tube' of spandex, headband. My regular cold-weather gloves: a poly-pro base and regular fingerless gloves. On top of that was the windstopper layer i've got (took them off for the last 40mins or so.) My hands run warm, thankfully. Feet are another story.. Thermal socks and regular socks, and then two pairs of booties over my shoes (a pair of Pearl Izumi booties, which are a tight fit, more for warmth. On top of that is a pair of Sugoi booties, which are effective against water.) Also tried wrapping my insole with tinfoil, not sure if it made any difference, but was pretty shredded when i removed my shoes. ;)
Also, i use ductape to seal the very bottom of my shoes - the holes near the cleat, plus the vent holes on the bottom. Gotta keep the cold out!
After Sidney, over half the group turned off on Wain Rd - very strange! There were about 14 of us, a decent number, and most of the strongest guys that came out. We continued on Lands End, and did Ocean Spray, one of the steeper sections around these parts, as a detour. Poor Alex was having a rough day, we figure he hadn't eaten enough. Continued on around the airport, etc.. Funny moment on the Panorama hill - a group of us had begun to break off the front, but there was hella traffic, and we all got caught behind a car...so those trailing got a 'get out of jail free' card. ;)
Around Hartland Rd, the pace picked up, and Emile got on the front and things broke up...by the top of the hill at the Observatory, there were basically six of us, Craig, Daniel, Ryan, Scotty, and Emile was starting to gap us all... No one was really feeling like chasing, and by the time we hit Interurban, he had a good 75m break. I contemplated snapping away from the group and bridging up (maybe in the draft of a passing vehicle!) - it was actually in a very good spot for me to do that, a fast spot on a slight downhill leading to a full downhill...but i wasn't really feeling too spunky so just sat in to be a factor in the group sprint..
We carried on, i think Ryan was at the front as we hit the 200m mark. I prolly should have jumped about there and got in front of the group, but i just sat in, and hit the line on the wheels of Craig, Scotty and Daniel. Ryan had faded a bit, understandably. Emile, of course, was well over 100m ahead of us...haha..
I took the King of the Overpass with little competition, other than Craig trying to take me to the rail..hahha..thanks to Emile for reminding me to go for it!
An interesting note: i came up just a bit short of my wattage PB for 1sec and 5sec in the sprint -- something that really surprised me, after 3 months of no sprinting! (Don't really do it in cyclocross!) I hit 1227w and 1169w respectively, and my PB's are 1257w and 1188w. Kinda cool, but no idea what i'm gonna do with sprint legs in December..hahaha
I kept it pretty chill for most of the ride, no major pulls or anything, but got a good workout in, here's the numbers:
Entire workout (164 watts):
Duration: 3:09:52 (3:31:58)
Work: 1847 kJ
TSS: 212.3 (intensity factor 0.824)
Norm Power: 214
VI: 1.3
Distance: 93.067 km
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1227 164 watts
Heart Rate: 72 189 151 bpm
Cadence: 23 122 91 rpm
Speed: 0 59 29.6 kph
Note: cut the ride short, went straight home from downtown, had a Horses Without Carriages demonstration at 2pm to do! TSS of 212 is good tho.
Sunday - MTB Ride
Super windy night Sat, and had tried to organize a bunch of peeps to come out Sunday, but most punked out!
Met Steve at the Switch Bridge, and Alex was meeting us in the parking lot. I was a bit late out the door, which normally isn't a problem, but it was WINDY!! I met Steve nearly 10mins late. Which is pretty bad for what's normally a 15min trip.
Set the stage for the rest of the ride out to the Dump - by the time we got off Interurban, it was 10:50, and we were supposed to meet Alex at 11am. It had felt like we had been climbing for the last hour! Pretty bad, considering the trip is normally about 55mins from my door (to the parking lot at the Dump!)
We skipped Prospect Lake and Executive (the way we normally enter the Dump, great trail off Meadowbrook Rd), and stuck to the road and up the Hartland hill. Got there just a min after 11am - phew! Steve creamed me on the hill...but i had my heavy Camelbak on too. ;)
We headed out, stuck to the main trail until the far end of Shock Treatment (which i call the beginning of the trail), bombed along it, up and around to Skull Trail and Inventive. From there, i thought we'd add in a fun extension to my 'normal' loop. Turned left onto Little Face (normally go right) and then up to Rolly Ridge - fun trail! Continued along Crazy Horse, down Centerfold to the Switchbacks. Wasn't feeling too spunky (legs a bit flat) so didn't quite get up a few sections...rode well otherwise.
Continued up Waterworks, and then hit Old Payoff on our way to North Ridge and Bubble Wrap. Haven't been up there for a few months, and so we decided to hit my favorite trail. =)
Conditions were great, the frost made the ground a bit funky in some spots, but otherwise it was really dry and pretty grippy. Bike didn't feel 'great' tho, the rubber was a bit harder from the cold, as well as firmer shocks from cold oil in my Manitou Minutes. Air springs seem like a better choice for the cold...
We kept the pace fairly casual, enjoying the terrain. A few near-spills, but nothing serious. Got to the bottom, and rode back up the Regional Trail..long climb! At the top, we decided to call it a day (contemplated crossing back over and doing Dave's Line, etc), and booked it down Who's Yer Daddy, Nightshift and Skull Trail.
I opted to get a lift back with Alex, Steve was feeling spunky and rode back. Crazy guy. ;)
The rest of the afternoon was napping, eating, and watching shows (Legend of the Seeker and Merlin..tee hee..love my SciFi weeknds.) Was pretty beat!
Here's my power data from the ride:
Entire workout (186 watts):Kinda surprised by my NP result! Didn't think we were going that hard.. Pretty sure my cadence didn't hit 206 either. ;)
Duration: 2:42:53 (3:48:29)
Work: 1815 kJ
TSS: 220 (intensity factor 0.9)
Norm Power: 234
VI: 1.26
Distance: 38.42 km
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1111 186 watts
Heart Rate: 82 183 159 bpm
Cadence: 31 206 79 rpm
Speed: 3.9 49.7 14.4 kph
This week will prolly get in a few road rides, and hopefully 2-3 climbing sessions. Have a great one! =)
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