Ygduf

I'm similarly having to stretch today. Yesterday was rough, an hour of power in as aero a tuck as I could manage. Hamstrings super tight and my back seized up overnight. Old ++

TheKillerPenguin

Training status: last race is over. It is time to disregard coach orders and ride until the legs break.

scheibo

Been feeling crappy on the bike the last week and a half, to the point where I actually lowered my FTP a notch 2 days ago. @Ygduf pinged me to go for a hard attempt on the benchmark climb today at lunch, but given that he's been consistently doing it in ~16:40-16:50 these last few weeks and my PR is 16:50 I wasn't hoping for much, but figured I'd try my best and maybe salvage a 17:20.

Felt surprisingly good on the bike on the ride over, I think I had some nerves because I was pretty sure there was a solid chance I'd embarrass myself. Fudgy led into the climb after warning me he likes to do the first 2 minutes hard, and yet I felt amazing on his wheel, kind of feeling almost like he was holding me back or something. I passed him on the steeper inside of a switchback before the mile marker and tried to keep riding at what felt like tempo pace at that point. I usually judge my pace on that climb based on gears - I started out in the 34-19, switched to 34-21 by the middle and was struggling in mostly 34-23 by the end. Post-ride data indicates I was 360W (~5.5W/kg) for the first half and 315W (~4.85W/kg) for the second (~340W overall), so the fact that by the last mile I was just fighting with my mind to keep pedaling can probably be attributed to the pacing.



Fudgy clawed me back a bit, but I was able to hold on for a large PR of 16:15 which basically seems fake to me given how I've felt on the bike as of late. First time I've beaten him, time to retire because I'm not sure how many more times that'll happen . Ultimate goal is to get 15:59 this year, and maybe on a slightly cooler day with better air quality and better pacing it'll be possible. Either way, pretty ecstatic, except now I need to bump my FTP back up to where it was before...

Ygduf

My GPS was on vacation from 1.75-2.5 miles, but the matches on bottom and top are pretty accurate.

I lost power from the autopause during its vacation, but I was at 430w for 10 minutes and Kirk was ~20 seconds ahead. Excellent ride by him and a PR that is only 6 or 7 seconds off my best-ever, so I'm very unlikely to get back ahead of him this year.

mattm

You guys should try racing!

lol j/k

scheibo

i'll do TTs and hill climbs, but *actual* racing... we'll see about that

TheKillerPenguin

They're just prepping for a post USAC all strava future

Ygduf

I recall offering to TAKE YOU TO THE RACE Sunday.

Ygduf

more accurate than East-Coast Watts.

mattm

I'm just jealous that I'm still working on breaking 20' on that climb... (in my three "attempts" so far)

TheKillerPenguin

Pssssh whatever bruh, Biggie > Tupac

hubcyclist

continuing my trend with short but a little higher intensity workouts with a 3x12 threshold session on trainerroad. For awhile now my indoor rides have been on zwift and relatively structureless (just riding z2/z3 with the occasional race to get in harder efforts) but I've jumped back to trainerroad, as I tend to like their selection of workouts more than zwift's.

while I'm not sold on the kickr snap itself, I'm loving erg mode. with 8 speed, I've always been annoyed at not hitting target power a lot because I was either spinning too much or mashing. erg mode just takes that guesswork out and just lets me pedal comfortably. maybe it's a crutch, but I'll take it!

mike868y

pretty easy week this week, mostly just making sure i'm fully recovered from GMSR before jumping into cx training. doing my first cx race of the season saturday so i'll do some opener efforts on friday.

also started doing core work again this week. it's been years since i've regularly done core. planning to make a normal part of my training throughout this winter.

TexMac

2 Crits today and road race Saturday..need 3 top tens to CATup to 3. Might shut it down and start logging miles on my first ever TT bike

topflightpro

My riding has been incredibly up and down lately. Three weeks ago, I struggled to ride, let alone hit any intervals. Things started improving two weeks ago, and last week, I started wondering if my PM was off because I was having no trouble hitting my numbers. But then this week, I'm back to struggling to ride, let alone hit any numbers.

I really don't know what is up.

spdntrxi

no way.. Tupac got more hits after death then Biggie

Hermes

@TMonk Checked out San Diego Velodrome. Warmup and 2 sets of one lap on two laps off plus two 1/4 lap standing starts. The temperature and humidity were perfect but windy. The track is similar to other concrete tracks I have ridden and may be slightly more bumpy but that is hard to say. However, it should be amazing after the resurface in a couple of weeks. Coming out of turn 2 into the wind, it felt like I was standing on the pedals with almost no pressure on my ass.

I was at Velo Sports Center on Tuesday and crashed during a warmup when my rear tire flatted. I almost made it off the track and I was on the blue band and I must tried to slow too much and the bike went sideways and I hit the deck at 12 mph. So I am nursing a skinned right forearm.

I got another rear wheel and did the workout which was German team pursuit followed by 30 laps of motor pacing. The German team pursuit is two to three racers dive together in a pace line off the banking accelerating to max speed for a flying 200 meters. The leader goes to the end and the next racer leads for 3 laps and then goes to the balustrade and dives off for another flying 200. Some racers were doing 8 of these and my group did 4.

TMonk

Interesting to hear your perspective about the San Diego Velodrome, as I've never ridden another track myself. I also find it to be a bit bumpy, and am looking fwd to the imminent re-surface. Velo Sports Center is the one in Carson right? I've got to ride it at some point - I'm sure it's fast an exhilarating.

Also, that German pursuit sounds like it can really start hurting after a few reps!

aaronmcd

Commute via the hills this morning, 3:45 or so. Was gonna do 2x20 on the hills, and I kinda did but they were like 85% and felt super hard, yet no burn. Like my brain or legs or something just shut off before I entered zone 4. Weird.

But that's how long efforts are, if not to this extent usually. I usually need a 30-40 watt range cuz I have no idea what I'll actually be able to do on a given day. Today may have been influenced by yesterday. I was lazy yesterday also, so I did sprints. Those don't hurt, but maybe "turn off the legs" next day. Just a guess. Also may be just that I've been doing hard work so long and the season ends soon and I'm just sick of it!

Hermes

Yes, VSC is the 250 meter indoor wooden track with the 45 degree banking located in Carson - very smooth and fast.

I have raced at Hellyer, Marymoore and Trexlertown all concrete. SD is similar in bumpiness - maybe a little more. It definitely needs a makeover and I think it will be really nice when finished. IMO, the wind was more difficult than the surface.

topflightpro

I've only done Rock Hill. I don't recall any bumps there.

TexMac

4/5 Crit yesterday 7th 95 deg HOT..then 2nd Crit chain drops and gets stuck on chain catcher! Oh well road race tomorrow

scheibo

did 20 minutes worth of laps of a short circuit with a bump and a hill on it, basically my version of a crit where the NP of the workout is supposed to exceed the avg power by a lot. i was kind of happy with the result, but comparing power post ride (270W avg/300W NP) vs last time (270W avg/335W NP) makes it pretty clear why i didn't have to limp home afterwards! apparently the first time i did the workout i managed the hill in the big ring for the first 10 minutes vs. this time when i was doing it in the 34-23, which kind of makes sense why there was such a huge discrepancy in NP.

grolby

Various aerobic engine workouts and core stuff all week. Intensity is coming from races for the moment.

caloso

Just noodled around this morning.