MTB racing tonight, all together about 20 miles and 1500' of gain...although only 13 of those were race miles. I took 2nd in a pretty stacked field, I did a come-from-behind sprint and was short by less than half a wheel...did about 1000 watts for 10 seconds in the sprint. I can actually do better in a sprint and I realized that I kinda gave away the win with that effort, but no complaints on how it turned out. Even though it was a fast race, I managed to keep my power numbers down and feel like I won't be carrying any fatigue into Friday's race in Monterey.

I took your advice and did my route research at home by looking through my Garmin Connect routes and sending the candidates to my GPS. I really wasn't feeling the ride.

I took the gravel bike in today, so it will be 4 miles only, for commuting. Flirting with rain on the way home, but if it does rain, I'll get to test my new fenders.

Bravo again and here goes to crushing it in Monterey! Bet the competition will be deep. 1000 watts for 10 seconds?!!! Getting ready for the pro-ranks?

Edit, care to share your home insurance providers? I need to get mom’s house insured. Thx

Thanks, yeah I'm expecting a deep field at Sea Otter. Not only is Sea Otter a big event, but this particular race is also a qualifier for the Leadville 100. Humblebrag time, but...my longest duration for 1000 watts is actually 30 seconds. I think my 10 second PR is around 1200 watts...that may sound strong, but I suspect a pro-level sprinter is in the range of 1500-2000 for a short duration sprint like that. I come into my own on longer duration sprints or late-race attacks. My 1 minute power is exceptionally strong(800watts.) I honestly don't train for sprints, so I'm probably leaving some room for improvement there. My main focus has always been improving my unremarkable endurance. I have a decently high FTP now, but it's quite a bit of work to get there and stay there.

PM sent for the insurance.

104 Miles in the breezy 52F. A lot of generators were still going from the storms that pounded the SE area.

I was notified at the end of Dec right after I had paid my policy for the year that my Insurance company got bought and the new owner decided they were exiting the personal insurance lines (Home,boat,car, etc). I have had this company for close to 36 years and they have been fantastic for the 2 instances I needed to make a claim. I had just had a roof inspection that same day to confirm what I though was some wind damage from a nasty storm we had the first week of Dec. So I made sure to file for roof damage under my policy, they approved it and now I have a new roof which just saved me 28K because insurance in Florida is a crap shoot at the moment and companies are forcing people to get new roofs before they insure them if they are over 10 yrs old, which is stupid. Most roofs will last at least 25 years, but what are you going to do, you have to have it.

So now that I have all that done, I now have 7 months to find a new policy that is not going to be stupid expensive compared to what I was paying. My mother in law also had Farmers for 40+ years and they just exited her policy recently as well. The inflation rate\ commercial real estate plunge is killing the reinsurance markets as they are so heavily invested in REIT's and that is getting passed down to the consumer markets.

With all that said, I got in 16.2 miles and 2733 ft of climbing.

Purchased TPO tubes and installed them today. My former Michelin “ultra light” tubes (2 mounted, 1 spare) total weight was 522 g. The total weight of the replacement TPU tubes 252 g. Weight saving is 398 g, or 14 ounces. Cheapest weight saving ever.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...dbc443bdb.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...573ce2832.jpeg

What company makes purple TPU's

Several different manufacturers. I found mine here for a super price: https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesal...468a1c91eaMhBC

Got in a rouvy ride tonight, 23 miles, 2.5k of climbing. Planning for a long ride outside tomorrow.

A quick 21 with 1,300’ with a younger buddy. Since he can push mucho watts, it encouraged me to put out a little bit extra. The good news 4 PRs I wasn’t trying for and the “bad” news was 2 KOMs for my age group. Plus a coffee stop - because he’s from OZ, and it’s tradition - and I don’t monkey with tradition when coffee is involved.

Did a little bit of mountain bike racing today at Sea Otter...about 68 miles and 8400', with a 5 hour and 12 minute finishing time. My personal performance exceeded my expectations and I set some PR's for 4-5 hour power, but the field was insanely talented . I managed a 16th out of about 100 in my class, so not quite the top 10 that I was hoping for...regardless of finishing place, I'm just pumped on how well I rode.

It was a 2 lap, marathon XC race...I paved it perfectly and emptied my gas tank on the final climb of the day. Some notable stats...top speed of 46mph, average speed of 13mph, and a normalized power of 273 watts. Average watts was 215 for the event...which would be alright on a road ride, but is quite difficult on a MTB with all the time spent descending. I lost quite a bit of weight from last season(25lbs,) so I'm actually starting to feel like a "climber" and feel like I have an advantage on the climbs.

30 miles around the breezy town in the not so spring like temps of 39F ..... ugh.

Almost made 30 miles, but oh boy my butt was hurting the last 10. Ordered a couple of Brooks saddles, hoping they live up to the hype.

Went for round two...
45 miles yelling at the clouds that was shedding snow. Temps dropped to 32°F for most of the ride.

It was nice when I started, high 60's, somewhat humid 85 when I finished. Got in 67, and 45 of them with no shifting on my Checkpoint which is a 1X setup as I forgot to check my battery level on the RD and I also forgot to grab a spare battery like I normally have on me when I ride this bike. At the 12 mile mark, I see the low battery notice on my head unit, but since we are in Florida, no need to worry about shifting a lot, so I made sure I was in my pace gear and re-routed to avoid the one bridge I came over. Basically did a 45 mile single speed ride. I made sure all my AXS batteries had a full charge when I got back.

Today I rode 70 miles.

That just goes to show you that those gears are for show, well done!

LOL... yea they are.

51 miles... no snow, but still cold.

Mellow road ride to spin out the race legs, 48 miles and 4400' of climbing. Mid-70s and sunny, couldn't ask for more enjoyable cycling weather.

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https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...841a74a7e5.jpg

What is the typical grade on a ride like that - or how much does it vary?

This one is a bit punchy on the way down, it actually accumulates about 800' of gain on the way down the hill. The descent punctuated by really short 8-10% grades, on the way down to 1300' elevation(from around 4k'ish start.) The middle part is a long, but gradual slope...about 2% for 11 miles. The bulk of the climbing happens in the following 10 miles, a series of "steps" of about 6-8% grade. Finished up with a few miles of descending. The climbing is very easy on this particular loop, I can spin a cadence of 90 on almost all the climbs without even getting out of zone 2. That's why it's my go-to for an easy ride. It's the flattest ride that I can do from my house, unless I plan on doing some 100+ mile ride down into the central valley(but still with 3000' of climbing back to my house.)

Most of my other routes are significantly harder than this. Either very steep climbs, really long climbs, or even climbs that are both steep and long. My "threshold interval route" has a series of double-digit grade, 2+/- mile climbs. Each takes about 15-20 minutes to complete if done at 100% of FTP. That route will net me around 32 miles and 4800' climbing.

My usual difficult summer route includes either one or both of two of 40-60 minute long climbs, each several miles long with Strava assigned "Cat 1 and HC" rankings. If I do an out-n-back over both of them, it's 36 miles and 6k' gain. The "HC" climb is challenging, but is very manageable with good climbing gears. The "Cat 1" climb is actually a much more difficult climb than the Strava ranking assigned to it. Only about 2400' of gain in 6 miles...although 1000' of that gain is done in the first 2 miles of the climb. That climb is devoid of shade and on a south aspect, so it's usually 90s/100s on that particular climb. Do both climbs together and it's a recipe for feeling completely shot-out.

There are also some really big Sierra pass climbs that I'll also do in the summer, but I'm not counting those, as it's highly variable how many of them I'll do in the same ride.

Yikes! I wish I had your legs. Would love to do that kind of climbing, but will live vicariously through you. 6,000’ in 36 miles is intense.

Today I managed 1100’ climb in 2 miles where I hold the KOM for my age group. Rode it today at a more leisurely rate - a minute slower. It starts at 18% for a quarter mile, then mellows to 10% with a 20% for the last 150 yards to the summit. Glad I have climbing gears. There is another way to the summit involving a long 2-3% climb which is uninspiring and frankly boring.

Pics from today:

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Thanks, it's only been fairly recently that I've had those legs. I looked back at that 6000' ride that I last did last year, and I'm amazed how low my power was. I basically averaged what is now zone 2 power, over both climbs, and I was feeling fairly dead afterwards. Now I'm much lighter weight and considerably fitter, so I'm excited to be able to start hitting the big climbs again.

Double digit grades are no joke, having the segment lead for your age group tells me your climbing legs are better than you want to admit lol. I love most types of climbing, but the low gradient/<5% are kinda boring to me. I really like long, 6-8% climbs, but insanely steep/double digit stuff is actually very enjoyable in some twisted way for me. Probably because I'm actually good at those...the only popular climbs that I feature in the top 10 O/A on, are steep, <5 minute climbs. Hammering out big watts for a minute is my specialty...maintaining a high watts/kg ratio up an hour long climbs, not so much.

I hear ya on the climbing gears. I sometimes think about my gear selection as I've progressed through cycling. My first road bike was an old steel-framed Spesh with a 3x8. I heard triples weren't "racy," so I took the inner ring off.:fred: I don't know how my knees survived that bike or equally oppressive gearing that followed on the next bike. I so wanted to spin like Lance, but just thought I wasn't gifted with the ability to spin. Obviously I wasn't a particularly bright young adult, so it wasn't until my first compact 2x11 w/11-32 road set up, that I realized that I actually can spin up climbs.:lol: I gotta say that my new bike with that compact 2x12, 11-34 rear, just about makes the perfect climbing bike for me.

Cracked me up. Think we all wanted to spin like Lance - but powering over a crest in a higher gear is just so damn satisfying. Am reading your post and got a massive cramp in my left inner thigh and dropped my iPad launching out of my chair. Maybe I need to stop reading your posts. :D So much for living vicariously.

40.5 miles, with a headwind hitting at 18mph.

50 miles with 1,400’ around Lake Washington/. Tried to keep it to Z2 but had over 30 mins of Z3 with 650 Watts some how appearing some where. Low 70s and high times.


Garmin scolded me again for ‘over extending’ and being ‘unproductive’. Se la vi

I was out there too starting at Log Boom Park heading southbound around 3:15pm. I went over to the UW, Gasworks, Fremont, and Ballard a little bit past the locks. I got in 39 miles today. The weather was very nice. I'm so glad that they fixed some of those bad tree ruts. Looks like they were doing some other work too as we were detoured on to Riviera PL NE for a few blocks.