rsbob 

Z1+Z2 24 miles with 800ft but slipped up and got a PR on a 3 miler, which I wasn’t really hitting too hard. Last PR on that stretch was April 2021and I was busting a nut.


Twin Peaks?

jaxgtr

So I got a late start this morning as I worked until 3 am.... So as I was rolling along, the wind was not terrible, between 5 and 10 out of the NW but expected to pick up as the day went on. Two dudes roll up on me, brothers, and we end up becoming a 3 person group ride and are cruising along at 27 to 30. I had plans to turn back at one point when I was on my own, as I did not want to be pummeled by the wind by myself heading back. They were like, no man, we can deal with the wind as a group, so I kept heading south an additional 25 miles. At the new turn point, these two decided to bail, one of the guys lives in the area. His wife is at the brother's house, up my way, for a baby shower, so they are just going to drive back later.



I now have to battle 20 to 25 mph headwinds for 40 miles. I ask them to watch my bike as I go into the store to buy a coke and some gummy bears as I know I will need some additional carbs. I averaged 13 to 15 and in some spots 12 mph when I was more exposed to the wind. Miserable ride back, but I blame myself know the winds were going to be heavy on the way back, and I automatically assumed these two were going to head north with me since they state; "we can deal with the wind as a group". Painful lesson never to trust anyone riding a 14K aero bike that is afraid of some wind.

All totaled, 92 miles, 440 ft of bridge loops before the meet up. Completely burned up tonight.

ofajen

17 miles. First ride in two months. I’ve been running and strength training this winter. The ride went way better than I expected. I think the strength training saved me from struggling up the hills on my old single speed bike. 👌

Otto

rsbob 

Man that really sucks.

Sierra_rider

89 miles, 4000', and less than 5 hours of gravel racing today. On paper my stats look good, I averaged 18.3 mph on a course that had its share of ruts, washboards, and technical gravel descents. However, it felt like I was riding the struggle bus today...it was all good for the first 40 miles, I was solidly in the lead group and made some key splits that caught a lot of guys out. Once we hit the first climb, my race started to unravel...for whatever reason, I was easily 80 watts off of the power I'd expect to hold on a climb like that. It got worse after that and my heart rate was usually high for the power I was riding at. I eventually started to find my legs and was able to latch onto a chase group and even take some turns on the pace line.

On a positive note, I was able to put my MTB skills to work and absolutely sent it down the last descent of the day. It was rutted and muddy in spots, with loose pebbles in others...was able to set one of the fastest times in that section and caught/passed back a bunch of people there. Looking back, I probably took a bit more risk than was necessary. I'm running mostly smooth/racy gravel tires and was drifting through many of the turns...but that downhill was too fun not to get a little crazy on it.

rsbob 

Quite enjoy your commentary. Makes it very interesting to hear your play by play. Hope to hear more in the future - and am glad you found your legs and could exploit your dirt skills.

Sierra_rider

Thanks, Peacock/NBC should hire me to be a color commentator for the TDF. I might make it 1/2 a broadcast before I slip up and say something highly inappropriate...actually, maybe they shouldn't hire me.

Not too much commentary about today's XC race...20 miles and 1600-1800' depending on who's head unit you trust. I thought I was going to be dead, but I actually felt pretty good considering the 90ish miles of yesterday. I didn't feel like playing pack tactics with the lead group, so I just spun my own laps out and ended up 4th. Looking at timing, after the race, I should've pushed a bit harder, as I ended up finishing pretty close to 3rd.

delbiker1 

I am eating a snack after about 25 miles split between my Poprad and Orbea Avant. This moment realized I was not ready to sit and do this. Guess I will get on my Airborne Zeppelin, that now covers titanium, steel, and carbon fiber.

WaveyGravey

20 Miles. Have not had a good winter of riding. Mostly due to weather.

OldTryGuy

Hopped on my recumbent at 3:10am and rode 17.71 miles under a very bright Waning Gibbous Moon.

ofajen

Sandwiched 45 minutes and 9 miles of hills between walking the dogs and a 4.5 mile easy run.

biker128pedal

Yesterday who is my birthday. So I treated myself to Fenix 7 Pro smarty watch to augment my Edge 1030. Road 16 miles of the Cap Trail to play with it. With two devices looks like I road twice.

Then today after the morning hike with the dog took a 21 mile ride before dinner. Felt good until the about a half mile from home. Right foot came unclipped and hit the ground at about 23 mph from worn out cleat. It had popped out before. Scratched bezel ring on day old watch. A little nick on the edge of the screen. Screen protector arrived while I was out. I needed a bezel ring protector. One on the way.

Second lesson. Don’t wear wedding ring. I have a gash in the finger. Bandaged but will need to cut off ring to help it heal. Oh annual doctors checkup tomorrow. So get to explain the fall and get told at 63 to slow down. May get a stitch or two in the finger.



Oh liking the watch. HRM is spot on compared to Bontrager chest strap. More options than my Edge 1030. Will come in handy when I forget the edge or ride light.

Edit: Annual visit to the Doc after 4 years. Need to take is easy for 4-6 weeks for the ribs. I'm going to replace cleats today. All had been popping out. I have all Shimano SPD pedals except cool looking Bontrager on the Domane. I still have the cleats for it so I will put those on one pair of shoes to compare. Should be interesting. Look, Shimano and Bontrager are supposed to be interchangeable. I guess the new Trek pedal are too.

Edit again. Found a stick on bezel ring and rubber protector. Both most likely would have prevented the damage from the crash. The rubber protector fits well before adding the bezel ring. The ring is slightly skewed. If the adhesive backed ring does not stay on I’ll use the protector. The protector looks better on the watch.

Sierra_rider

Sucks about your crash, sounds like nothing too long-term injurywise, so that's good.

I'm a data junkie, so I appreciate the smart watch. Mine's only the Instinct 2 solar(bought it off a friend who upgraded to the Fenix 7,) but I really appreciate the heart rate variability metric as well as just always having heart rate. It's not fool proof, but I sometimes adjust/modify my rides based on what my overnight HRV value was. It's really interesting to see how, after a hard ride, my HRV will be utter rubbish. Any sort of alcohol within a few hours of going to bed has the same effect on HRV.

I still run the HR strap and Garmin head unit on most of my rides, but occasionally just use the watch if I'm just going for a couple miles to visit a neighbor.

rsbob 

Your post on the Zone 2 thread regarding increasing your FTP inspired me to take it easy for a change and actually ride Z2 without sprints, and all out efforts to generate max watts. Put on Netflix and ZWIFT while monitoring my HR. After 2 hours of a very unsatisfying ride - I enjoy pushing it - I called it an afternoon.

P.S. Some colorful language doing color commentary on the TdF would make my day - and probably Bob Roll’s.

Leinster

About a half mile to the river park, where I took my 5yo son’s training wheels off for the first time, and within seconds he was zipping around the place.

Sierra_rider

Yeah, the boring zone 2 trainer sessions aren't the most enjoyable...I'd be hammering almost every ride/session if I could. I started really lumping the zone 2 stuff in when I was just trying to add volume to my week and increase race fitness. Even if I never entered another race again, the fitness benefit really makes the local all-day rides enjoyable...before I started adding structure to my riding, I remember how smoked I'd be at the end of a big ride through the mountains. I still get smoked, I just get to ride further.

My commentary would be reminiscent of the subject of a work evaluation I received several years ago. Basically, it said that I need to choose my words more carefully and that I should think carefully before I speak. The eval also said that I "took shortcuts to safety," which I was particularly proud of. I'm much better now and can almost pass as a normal member of society.

rsbob 

Entirely overrated. And choose your words more carefully? FTS

indyfabz

9 miles today.
9 miles for the month.
9 miles for the year.

jaxgtr

LOL... I was told once that I was too honest and direct and some people did not like that. I responded that being honest and direct eliminated miscommunication and that is the only way I operated. She just shook her head and said unless I had anything else, that is all she had for me. It was the fastest review I ever had, less than 10 mins.

rsbob 

Sorry to hear that. Dog bites, even friendly ones, can lead to a nasty infection. Hope it was irrigated well before stitched. (Was bitten trying to get an unfriendly dog off my sweet dog - 3 stitches).

jaxgtr

Yep, my wife is a nurse and we have a portable ER in our hall closet and she is actually the person that put the stitches in. It was a little bruised for a few days, but she pulled the stitches Monday and all is good.

rsbob 

How Fur did I ride today? At least he could have spelled ‘fur’ correctly..

After two days of Z2, today was a real 2 hours riding a fake 30 miles with 3,400’ in the Surrey hills. Tonight my legs don’t feel like it was too fake.

Sierra_rider

Took a rest day yesterday, figured I earned it after back-to-back race days. I was planning on getting a couple hours of zone 2 in on the trainer, as my legs still aren't quite 100%. However, I was extra busy fixing other peoples' problems at work today, so I was time crunched and sacrificed time for intensity. Ended up doing 12 sets of 30" intervals @700ish watts(with 2 minutes recovery.) In reality, I wasn't able to ride the intervals at my best wattage, so not as productive as possible.

Anyway, 7 miles in virtual France, with virtual feet, and only 51 real minutes.

TomM

Rode a short 25K this afternoon along the Seine.

rsbob 

Addendum to yesterday’s ride. Did my workout from 5 to 7 PM and really hammered it, more so than usual. Felt pretty tired after a beer and late dinner and went to bed. About an hour later awakened wide awake and laid in bed for an hour and there was no way I could sleep. Was awake from midnight to 4:30 AM and during that time I queried, “The Google” and read up on Exercise Induced Insomnia. Happens to be quite a lot written on the subject. Hard workouts produce high levels of cortisol and adrenaline which endure in the system for hours. Bingo. No more late hard workouts.

Credit for my late workout goes to my labradoodle who ripped out four staples holding his recent incision together and a hasty last minute trip to the vet.