Sierra_rider

Another indoor session today, this time Zwift. About 11 virtual miles and 3k fake feet.

I thought I had enough energy to do some FTP interval training, but failed in my first interval, turned it into a zone 2 ride. I had to take a couple weeks off because of illness earlier in the month, so I've been putting in big hours the last 2, trying to make up for it. Between that and a couple of demanding races, the fatigue is starting to sneak up on me. That's ok, as next week should be an easy week for me. I'm just trying to dial in my form for my first big "A" race of the season on April 19th.

jaxgtr

Got in 82 when this decided to embed itself in my rear wheel today. What is so weird, I think the tubeless sealant might be inside the wheel, as there was none in the tire, and I put in about 90 mil last week. Could not put a tube in on the road as I could not get the screw out, so I had to make the call of shame. It took a ratchet and socket to get it out. Unfortunately, will have to replace a rim strip and rear tire, but the wheel falls under Bontrager no questions asked 1 yr warranty program. New wheel here by end of next week. I can deal with the minor cost not to have to endure a major wheel replacement cost. Luckily, my wife was about 3 miles away at a road side flower place, so I saved even more money.

rsbob 

43 with 1400’ Zone 2. 50s today and cloudy with a big headwind on the return.

WaveyGravey

Yesterday, March 30, 2024, I rode 30 miles. First ride in 2 weeks.

Sierra_rider

More virtual miles today, this time back on main road bike, with repaired shifter. I was starting and stopping a couple different Rouvy routes until I settled on one. All together, about 14 virtual miles and 4000' of fake climbing. The bulk of the riding was on the virtual Col du Granon in France...rode tempo up that at 285ish watts for an hour.

I ended up at 43 hours and 580 miles total for the month of March. I was on track for 60 hours, but had a couple of light weeks because of the RSV.

georges1

Got to the half of my local trail with the Giant Bronco due to heavy rain. The Giant was a real pleasure to drive in heavy rain and in mud. The Continental Cross King tire provides phenomenal grip under rainy and muddy condition. The XT 780 T/XT T8000 transmission was and is working superbly.

WaveyGravey

20 Miles today

rsbob 

32 at Zone 2 at an 18 MPH ave. Rest day tomorrow 0 argh.

JochenRindt

30 miles on the Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail. And then 6 miles of spinning afterward. 642 miles total for March.

TomM

Having moved from JAX, I do not miss the road debris.

jaxgtr

yea, I had to deviate from my original route as I did not know they were replacing the asphalt and I wanted nothing to do with that as the road was basically scrapped and new asphalt had not been started, so I had to go down Philips Highway which I never ride down as it is a mine field of sketchy drivers and debris

rsbob 

Rest day, so did a 5 mile dog hike with 1,200’ gain in one of the local forests. While walking, met a nutritionist from a local hospital, so we chatted for miles. She was probably late 20s/early 30s and was huffing and puffing on the climbs, which made me feel good, even though some of the steep sections also took my breath away. When I hike, I would say more than 50% of the time I meet someone in a medical profession (Go figure - they are into a healthy activity). Harlee - the dog - had a great time meeting people and pulling me up the steep sections - almost a scramble in sections. Here’s 60 lb Harlee after the hike.

WaveyGravey

26 miles for me today. 75 miles so far this week. Goal is 100. Got bad weather coming in tonight.

rsbob 

46.7 miles with 2500’ Tried to keep it in Z2 so 164W average. Max power 550, top speed 40 MPH. Tomorrow - rain. 😪

The dog got in another 3 miles with Mrs rsbob and then she went for a ride.

diphthong

25-spot. upper 70's temps.

jaxgtr

Got in 22 miles and 2750 ft of fake miles, 1900 of those fake feet were in the last 9 fake miles....

jaxgtr

Better night on Rouvy tonight, 32 miles, 1700 ft of climbing.

rsbob 

24 fakers in Z2

The Chemist

jaxgtr

Well done.

rsbob 

FTP test day. Two years since last test and was afraid I had back-slid. Actually, it bumped up 2 Watts which felt good. Have heard/read so many horror stories about people of advanced age (69), suffering from sarcopenia (wasting/reduction of muscle associated with age) that I put off testing so that my fear would not be realized. So I decided to suck it up and do it anyway. One big surprise is that what I thought was my maximum HR (191) was not in fact what I hit today (200). My max HR in my 30s was 215. The real surprise was maintaining 245 Watts during the 20 minute test and kicking it up to 345 with a minute to go. Personal 5 sec best this year is 653 Watts.

Besides being pleased with the result, it also gives me confidence to continue to push hard/attack when I need/want to during my rides. Maybe doing more Z2 with one day/week of intervals is paying off.


This can’t be right, except for grossly unfit 20 year olds.

Sierra_rider

Congrats on the fitness gains. Those are strong numbers regardless of age, goes to show what people can do if they remain active.

Sounds like your FTP test went better than mine. The month of March has been far from ideal for my training and I had a recent "failure" on an interval session, so I decided it was time to do another FTP test. I was pretty well rested, no more fatigued than my previous tests this season, but I saw a backwards slide...down from 345 watts about 6 weeks ago, to 331 today. I was expecting the same or maybe a couple watts drop, but was a bit disheartened to see that much of a drop. One of my big events is in a couple of weeks, so this doesn't bode well for me being competitive. I'm just going to prepare the best that I can and hope for a good day at this point.

I suspect the Garmin metrics are just comparing VO2max to average Joe Blow, although that number is really good for someone your age. You might be surprised how out of shape the average 20-something is. A 25 year old that I know from work, bought my old XC bike, and has been trying to get into riding. His big accomplishment this year was when Garmin estimated his VO2max to be around 45 IIRC. What's scary to me, is he'd likely smoke most of his age-group peers in any sort of fitness test.

Sierra_rider

More indoors today, including the aforementioned FTP test. Followed up with some zone 2 riding, for a grand total of 18 virtual miles and 2700'.

Tomorrow should hopefully be an outdoor ride. I want to take my new whip on its inaugural ride. Outdoors wasn't really an option today, looking out my front porch:

rsbob 

Ah, so you took the plunge and bought a new ride - congrats! Amazing what bad brakes can do.

From what I have read is that FTP results can vary depending on the day. (Oops there goes my gains.) Of course there are factors like health <- you were recently sick, rest, cumulative fatigue, etc. You might, or might not, to take a break (keeping up the Z2) before your race to make sure your batteries are fully charged. Hope you crush it..

Sierra_rider

For sure about the various factors in FTP testing. My results weren't wholly unexpected and I felt the test was necessary to reevaluate my power zones.

About the ride, here she is: