WEDNESDAY RIDE- ENDURANCE

On this week’s Wednesday ride I sat out front for one hour instead of hiding in the peloton.  My Normalized Power was 235 watts or 3.45 w/kg

THURSDAY RIDE- HILL WORK

On Thursday I began my first of many hill repeat workouts of the 2011 season preparation.  The local hill is Newport Coast Drive.  It is 1.5 miles with an average grade of 6% and gains about 460 feet.  Because of the enormous amount of mental focus required for hill repeats, I planned for a short workout.  This Thursday I only did four repeats.  I will slowly increase the duration and intensity of my hill workouts.   The gearing choices were 39 x 28, 39 x 25, 53 x 11 and finally a “free ride”.  The 53 x 11 climb was for strength training on the bike.  Below are the graphs and data for the 39 x 28 and 53 x 11 repeats.  You will notice a huge difference in wattage and torque.

FRIDAY RIDE

My legs were a little stiff from the hill repeat workout on Thursday.  I felt good through the hills on Tesla and stayed with the front group.  Even when a gap opened up I closed the gap.  The power chart below is the final 5 miles just before the sprint.  There are a couple of rollers and lots of changes in pace.  Unfortunately, we got caught at the light at the bottom of Newport Coast Drive.  I was in a trackstand when the light turned green and was able to be one of three riders ahead of the pack.  I didn’t have anything left to sprint though.

My Normalized Power for the last 13 minutes of the ride was 282 watts or 4.14 w/kg