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Old 12-22-19, 03:00 PM
  #11  
canklecat
Me duelen las nalgas
 
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Location: Texas
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Looking at the terrain map, I suppose the reason I can get in some reasonable "climbing" for the flat prairie part of Texas is because my hometown, Fort Worth, is in a huge river basin. So there's a gradual slope extending many miles outside the city center.

I'm west of town, about midway up the gradual slope. It gets a little steeper toward the west, so that's the direction I go for most workouts.

Our prevailing wind is usually from the south, so I look for climbs into the headwind. There are several but usually only 1/2 a mile or a mile at most, averaging maybe 1%-2% with lots of little steeper peaks.

Occasionally in early spring and winter we'll get strong winds from the west or east. That's good for practice because there are longer gradual climbs for miles. So I'll head into that stiff wind and slog away for practice.

Recently I snagged a new PR on a 4-5 mile gradual climb on a day with 15-20 mph headwind. At first I thought it was a Strava glitch, but both Strava and Wahoo Fitness agreed, and when I manually calculated the speed and time it was correct. Best I can figure, it's because a yearlong grind of physical therapy to improve my core strength and flexibility enabled me to stay tucked and more aero almost continuously. And I'm a little stronger now, although not enough to account for the PR. That's mostly from staying as low as possible for the entire grind.

So, next neutral wind day, I *should* be able to beat that PR if I stick with the same technique and don't get lazy and sit upright.
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