TRAINING GOALS:
A. Ride at Tempo (209-249 watts)
B. Ride higher gear lower cadence (80-85 rpm) to keep power up.
C. Work rollers in bigger gears … seated climbing
RESULTS:
A. Normalized Power 225 watts – GOAL ACHIEVED
B. GOAL ACHIEVED
C. GOAL ACHIEVED
On the last day of my four-day training block I rode 40 miles at tempo and threshold. I did multiple sprints and intervals to finish off my legs. Tomorrow, Sunday, I will do a recovery ride in the morning and possibly another in the evening after work. And then Monday I will rest. What I’m hoping for is a strong recovery after a four-day block and three days of “recovery”. We will see on Tuesday morning when I line up for Coffee Crew.
SUMMARY
In the morning I did the Wednesday Ride and then added the Warner Loop on the back-end. I had a good hard ride of 80 miles. Then after work I did the Warner Loop again just to keep the legs loose which added another 20 miles. Total miles for the day was 100 miles Total time was just over 5 hours.
The first 5 miles of my evening ride were really a challenge. I had been on my feet for 9 hours at work after riding the hard 80 in the morning. I wore my Skins leg tights which helped but they were still stiff. After the first 5 miles or so my legs loosened up and I had a very nice enjoyable ride.
THE MORNING RIDE
Garmin Download Here
I was 11 minutes late to the meet. I chased for 1:12 and caught the group on Glenn Ranch as they were about to enter Santiago Canyon. I felt good on that first hour, pushing harder than normal on a Wednesday ride. Once I was riding with the group my pace was lighter for the next 20 miles or so. There is a lot of energy savings while drafting …it can’t be overstated.
A few things positive things I notice in the data provided above:
1. 2600 kjs in a 4 hour ride that’s an average of 650 kj/hr. Pretty high for me on a training ride and I like the data based on my perceived effort.
2. Intensity Factor was (802) or 80% for 4 hours
3. PwHR: 3.63%– This is outstanding! The goal should be around 5% and I am below that. This means my HR and Power were consistent throughout the 4 hours, much more complicated than that but we will leave it there.
4. Normalized Power was 220 watts which was 3.3 w/kg for 4 hours that’s also good for me anyway.
THE EVENING RIDE
Active Recovery
Today’s Training Tip
The power meter is essential for recovery rides. I hear cyclists often say they don’t use their power meter because they’re not going hard. WRONG! If you are on a recovery ride you need to ride nice and easy. The Active Recovery is designed to promote blood flow and help in the healing process. Going out too hard on a recovery ride will add more training stress and actually slow your recovery process. I submit if you are not using a power meter during your recovery rides then chances are YOU ARE RIDING YOUR RECOVERY RIDES MUCH HARDER THAN YOU SHOULD. Notice below 63% of this ride was spent at Active Recovery Zone about 36% at Endurance, most of that 36% was at the lowest levels of Endurance zone since my average power was 136 watts for the ride.
All for now…thank you for reading my blog. Please pass it on to you cycling friends.
On Saturday I went out really early with the hopes of riding Mount Palomar. I was going to climb South Grade (steeper side), descend East Grade and climb East Grade then go home. It should have been a 130 mile day with about 12,000 feet of climbing in the middle section. About 16 miles into my ride, on Del Dios Hwy, I just didn’t have the legs. I turned around and went back to the coast. I figured since it was still early I could catch the Swami’s ride and then go long (Lake Wholford and Valley Center) with them.
It was great to see the old gang again. I was a Swami for almost four years. I had a bagel and cream cheese and two cups of coffee while visiting with old friends. I felt so much better. We rolled out about 8:10 am. I felt fine throughout the ride and was surprised that I was well positioned for the sprint. I of course don’t have a sprint but I was well positioned.
One of the things I dislike about the world famous Swami’s ride is the LONG regrouping at “the church”. We were stopped 11 minutes! Ridiculous! We had only ridden 55 minutes. I don’t get it.
After the Swami’s ride I did a few hill repeats in San Elijo and a few laps on PCH that added up to a century. I had a good day on the bike even though I felt sluggish in the beginning.
SUNDAY
My training goal for today was to ride a coastal century in under six hours. I set my Garmin Virtual Partner to 16.66 mph. The virtual partner tells you how many miles and how much time you are ahead or behind your goal pace. I also used my Power Tap power meter to pace myself towards my goal.
I rode a 5:18 total time century. I was amazed with my time because of all the stops signs and traffic lights (Leucadia Blvd – has to be the longest light in the county urg!). I never got off the bike. Moving time was 5:11 or 5:13, depending which online GPS service you download your data too, Garmin Connect or RidewithGPS.com.
My route was simple. I rode to the Oceanside Marina then south to Torrey Pines then north to Oceanside Marina then south to Torrey Pines then north to the finish at the Lumberyard in Encinitas. Why would I do such a monotonous route? I prefer to do big-ass loops for my centuries but today I wanted rabbits up ahead to chase down. It was a great little game to play to keep the pace high.
On the way north for my second trip to Oceanside Marina, I hooked up with a triathlete named Scott Federoff. We kept each other honest. Our paces seemed compatible. I believe we pushed each other just enough to make the training ride worth it. He needed three (3) hours and I needed six (6) hours or a little less. I hope we ride together again some time soon. It was a pleasure riding with someone who fit my definition of the perfect riding partner see this post.
Thank you to INFINIT NUTRITION for keeping me fueled. I had two “doubled-up” bottles and that’s it. Doubled-up means I put twice the serving size in my bottle. I had twice the calories but only half the fluids. The temperature was cool for the first three hours of the ride so I was able to conserve my fluids (fuel). When I was done I was a little dehydrated but my goal was to do the complete 100 miles without stopping and keeping the intensity high. INFINIT NUTRITION did the job of keeping me fueled. Please give them a try and customize your own formulas for your needs. When you decide to try Infinit use “vireo” as your discount code and receive 10% off of your order.
Thank you for reading my blog– pass it on to your BEST friend.
You just never know where you will find a new riding partner. Sometimes you find them on the road going in the same direction as you are going. He overtakes you then you overtake him. But then you find your paces are compatible and you ride the rest of the day together. Sometimes you find them in an event as one of many other riders in the paceline. But eventually that paceline thins out and here you are with just one other rider. It usually happens on a climb and you find that your climbing abilities are well matched with this rider subsequently you ride the rest of the event with him. It turns out my new riding partner is a coworker.
RIDING PARTNERS
So let’s talk about what makes a good riding partner. I like riding partners that don’t talk much. I like to ride to ride. If I want to talk I’ll have coffee, breakfast or lunch with you. When I ride I like to ride with music and again not talk much if at all– just the essentials “Left at the light…” I like riding with riders that keep the intensity up but not hammer it so that you can’t keep the ride hard throughout the whole ride. I like riders that anticipate when I am just about to fall off the pace and come around and pull and keep the pace high- without surging and dropping me. I like riders roll off when they are starting to fade and allow me to come around and take up the pacing duties. I like riders that don’t stop on a 50 mile ride for anything other than traffic controls.
Today I did a workout in the morning of about 34 miles. My legs felt ok but didn’t the snap that I like to have on the rollers. I wanted to ride after work for another couple of hours to shake out whatever funkiness was going on with my legs. My performance in the morning was blah to say the least. I was relating this to Yeshua, a new-hire, and we made a plan to ride after work. Sundays the shop closes at 4pm. During the summer months we can ride for at least 3.5 hours after work. We decided on 3 hours. We kept a very solid pace for three hours and 55 miles with an average speed of 18mph and because of some lights our moving speed between them was almost 20pmh. My Normalized Power was 223 watts or 3.32 w/kg, which for me is good for a 3 hour effort.
Meet Yeshua
There was a lot of minutes spent over 22 mph on this ride- weird how 20 mph and 21 mph are lower
Quick ride before work today 34 miles at about 19 mph average speed. Easy ride going southbound. Tempo pace going northbound back to Newport Beach.
One quick analysis point– my Intensity Factor (0.93) says that I was riding at 93% of my threshold power. My perceived effort says no not really. If I continue to see this type of disparity between power data and perceived effort I will raise my threshold power. This type of disparity usually means I am gaining fitness. My Normalized Power was 256 (3.78 w/kg) for 51 minutes.
George's Epic Adventures 