I have some fun updates!
I signed up for a road race on July 12. Two laps of a 21 mile circuit with a 3.4 mile start/finish section outside the loop bringing the Cat 5 race to 47.2 miles (which is the same length as the Tuesday night rides I've been doing and very similar amount of climbing, too). Hopefully I don't get dropped on the steep sections as I am wont to do.
https://www.strava.com/routes/2836819237647774428
In other news I found a new high intensity workout to do on Friday evenings (I'm considering dropping the Wedensday night group rides from my schedule since it's not ideal to stack two hard days in a row). I have a friend Diego who used to run cross country in high school (the boy only just turned 20) and he says to me today something to the effect that he thinks he's just as fit as me, which I scoffed at since he hasn't been training and I have been. He backed up his claim with the simple fact that he has better genes than me and he's half my age (he was competitive in high school, I've never been competitive in any sports I've trained in). I started to think about what he said and much to my chagrin it dawned on me he very well may be right. I have scar tissue from a lung surgery I had when I was 19 which may be contributing to my difficulty to get really fast (outside being 41 years old; though before the lung surgery I was a slow ski racer). He then said he thought he could beat me in a sprint up a steep hill--that is, him running up the hill against me biking up the hill. I then postulated to him what grade he thought is the tipping point from the cyclist's favor to that of the runner (he said maybe 5% but I sure hope it's steeper than that!). I also asked him what amount of time would be an ideal sprint for him and he said a minute. I'm not sure at what grade the crossover happens, but there is a short, steep hill that takes about a minute to get up in a hurry, that would be perfect for us to race up, though it just might be steep enough to be in his favor. I think my fitness is going to see me the victor, though! I might have to film our race(s) / test GCN style and upload it to youtube. We'll probably do a best of 4 since it's only a minute climb. Carefully examining the hill on Strava it appears to be about 600 feet in length with a rise of 75 feet giving an average gradient of 12.5%. In order to get up the climb in a minute we will have to move at about 7mph. Will I be able to bike faster than he can run up the hill? Anyone want to put forth predictions? I honestly think it might be close, but I do think I will win. I am fitter, damnit.
Lastly but not leastly, we are doing a chase race group ride this Tuesday. That is, we are splitting up our A group into two groups: the fastest guys will be put in the chasing group and the slower guys in the chased group. I talked to our "team leader" veteran and he said he thought I could go in either group. I'm very torn about which group I want to go in, as I will likely force the group to wait for me on the one long climb, but I think I can put in some solid pulls on any terrain under 5%. I am really very much in the middle of the two groups, though I do think I'm moving on the faster end of the two groups. I feel really good this week after doing 234 miles. My legs feel good, I had a really good feeling high cadence ride today (a century yesterday) and my legs haven't felt this good in a long time (they don't feel heavy at all). That rest week did me good and I should have good legs on Tuesday! There will be a youtube video of this chase race, so stay tuned for that! In the meantime, here is a small group ride video from the preseason: