Bluffs Pkwy Hill Repeats - #4

Garmin Connect Ride Data

Just a few days from the 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge and today was my last hard workout of the week. I did not go as hard as previous weeks because I am concerned about a full recovery by Saturday. The warm up my hamstrings felt like they were knotted up, but a after a few miles the discomfort went away. By the end of the training session I felt like things were working well.

The remaining days I plan to spin light and continue to stretch. I will also hope for a drier forecast in the next couple of days. At the moment there is a 60% chance of storms predicted for Saturday. I know most of my friends are not going if it looks bad. I am not sure I really want to do the ride again if the conditions were like last year and the year before. It has rained each year I have entered.

Power Data:
 Entire workout (123 watts):
    Duration:      1:09:19 (1:10:00)
    Work:          503 kJ
    TSS:           75.4 (intensity factor 0.813)
    Norm Power:    171
    Distance:      13 mi
        Min  /  Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  396  /  123     watts
    Speed:           2.6  /  37.4  /  11.5     mph
    Pace             1:36 /   22:59  /  5:13     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0  /  315  /  117     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  583  /  183     lb-in

Brewery 50 Mile

Garmin Connect Ride Data

The Group: Diane, Jamie, Bill, Rick, Derek, Edgar, Mike, Scott, Kit and me

The Ride: Since storms hit on Saturday this impromptu ride was formed and thankfully the group waited for me and started the ride at 1 pm. No formal route was planned and myself and some others were on a time frame to finish within 3 1/2 to 4 hours. It was fast and furious from virtually the start to the end. I am still not sure if my power meter is messed up, but the readings were low perhaps because of the lack of elevation and the faster roads or something similar. However, despite what the power meter was reading or not reading correctly I do know that at mile 46 in some small stinging rollers I was dropped from the group. At that point my legs had about enough for the day, but I did do a lot of pulling in the first half and that may have been my demise.

Anyway it was a very good solid ride that was squeezed in on this very windy Sunday afternoon. I just hope that me fading today in a short ride is not what will happen next weekend in 3 State 3 Mountain challenge for the century. I will need to pace myself better for that ride and not go quite as hard if I plan to make it to the end. I guess I am still not in the shape I had hoped for this time of the year.

Bluffs Pkwy Hill Repeats - #3

Garmin Connect Ride Data

Out on the Bluff's Parkway in Canton after work for an hour of hill repeat training.

Power Data:
Entire workout (132 watts):
    Duration:      1:02:49 (1:05:16)
    Work:          490 kJ
    TSS:           76 (intensity factor 0.859)
    Norm Power:    180
    Distance:      13 mi
        Min  /  Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  406  /  132     watts
    Cadence:         30  /  244 /   61     rpm
    Speed:           0  /  40.3 /   12.8     mph
    Pace             1:29  /  0:00  /  4:41     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0  /  316  /  114     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  615   / 187     lb-in

Comet - Out and Back

Garmin Connect Ride Data

Ride: I suppose this ride would be considered a "no no" by many cycling coaches. It was too much for recovery and not hard enough to land in those zones that are beneficial. The coaches say if you cannot get into those zones because you are too tired than you need to rest. Well....it was just too nice outside to rest and there were moments that I just felt the urge to push just a touch harder. However, as you can see by the data from the Power Tap it sure looks like recovery ride data. :) I guess it was easy enough even with almost an 18 mph average for 2 hours.

Power Data:
Entire workout (100 watts):
    Duration:      2:18:17 (2:28:50)
    Work:          821 kJ
    TSS:           66.5 (intensity factor 0.541)
    Norm Power:    114
    Distance:      40.456 mi
        Min  /  Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  460  /  100     watts
    Cadence:         29  /  198  /  66     rpm
    Speed:           0  /  25.2 /   17.8     mph
    Pace             2:23  /  0:00  /  3:22     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0   / 291  /  38     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  632  /  132     lb-in

Ending          Duration      Distance    Weight        TSS             kJ 
4/18/2010     9:08:54       134.62        170.0        430           3594

Jasper to Fort Mountain

 Garmin Connect Ride Data

The Group: Diane, Jamie, Tiffany, Nancy, Margaret, Gayle, Alan, Derek and me

The Ride: Like last weekend we started from the Ingles Parking lot in Jasper with a heading toward Talking Rock. The downhill section going out Talking Rock the speed quickly picked up and we carried that speed on out toward Carters Lake. Old Hwy 411 happens to be one of my favorite sections of road going to Dennis Mill Road and then Old Federal on up the base of Fort Mountain. Through all of those sections we carried good speed and even though my power output was low it just did not matter much because the of scenery and I am not much of a scenery type of guy, but it is just that awesome in my opinion. At the turn on Old Federal Road there was a familiar face off to the left side of the road.  Sitting on the tailgate of his truck next to a large cooler was Chuck Brownlow, the husband of Jamie. My first thought that rang out in my head was, "DAT'S CHUCK!!!"

The store stop at the base of the Fort Mountain climb Chuck provided cold water, a variety of drinks and cold soaked wash clothes. Wow!! We already liked Chuck, but he just went to the top of the friend list today. Of course he was there for Jamie, but we enjoyed it as well.

I started the Fort Mountain ascent before the group because I am a much slower climber and it did not take long for everyone to catch me and go on up to the summit lookout. Derek came up and stayed with me on the climb and we got to chat a little about the climb. Fort Mountain is such a pleasant climb. A lot of the time I looked down and the Garmin Edge was reading close to 7%, but unlike Burnt Moutain this climb has some spots that flatten out a little and give your legs a break. At the summit the whole gang was there for pictures that were taken by Chuck.

Down the mountain we go and this time I felt my confidence was up a little today with the fast twisty descent, but still not very fast compared to a lot of the group. I still have a lot more improvement to make on getting my confidence back like it was before the accident.

Once we fully descended we were in the six mile section of big rollers heading toward Ellijay. One after another climbing these rollers can be frustrating, but good training and good for me to do the things I don't quite enjoy as I hope to be a well rounded cyclist. I just need less weight on my butt to ease the climbing discomfort. Once we were past the rollers, Diane and Alan had a big gap on me, Jamie and Tiffany so I tried my best to span the gap and take my buddies with me up to the two. I kept pushing as hard as I could and my computer was reading a lot in the low 30's mph, but to no avail.

One more store stop in Ellijay and we hit the road again for the last stretch to Jasper. The group in this stretch was me, Jamie, Nancy, Derek, Diane and Alan and we had a great pace line going. Jamie, Derek, Nancy and Alan did a great pull in the wind. Diane also had a great long pull and the group kept up a solid pace until we hit the intersection of Talking Rock Road. Only 10 miles to go with a 3 to 4 mile climb to Philadelphia Road. I think the whole group had a sigh of relief at that summit and just a few more miles it all ended well. A bit later Gayle and Margaret rolled in and we knew everyone had a safe training day that was also fun. Even if it was a little discomforting at times. We also saw Neal and Glenn (the men who know no boundaries) after they did another bout of Quad-fecta training on Burnt Mountain and Sunrise Ridge.

To the group today I salute you and thank you for making this a great training day.
One more weekend to go and then a bunch of head toward Chattanooga for 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge.



Route Description: Fast downhill sections, some flat sections, one sustained climb, big rollers going back into Ellijay and a nice 3 to 4 mile climb toward the end as we came back into Jasper.

Climb Data: (from Garmin Connect Data)
Total Ride Elevation Gain: 5,898
Total Miles: 80

Fort Mountain - West Side (plus some climbing before we were on Burnt Mountain)
Elevation Start: 787 feet
Mile Marker Start: 35
Climb Start Time: 1:54:38
_______________________

Elevation End: 2860 feet
Mile Marker End: 44
Ride Time: 2:59:34

Total Time Climbing: 1hr 5 min
Total Miles Climbing: 8.83
Total Elevation Gain: 2073 feet

Weather: Cool start in the low 60's (F) warming to the low 70's at the end. Skies were sunny and there were some breezes blowing around the pollen. The air was dusty or gritty feeling with such a high pollen count.

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course: (2)24oz. bottle of water with Hammer Heed/10grams Glutamine and BCAA's, (2)24oz. bottle of water refills (1)Cliff Bar, (2) Accel gel, (1)Post Ride 40gram whey protein drink


Power Data: (not impressive numbers but my legs are tired anyway)
 Entire workout (105 watts):
    Duration:      5:01:21 (5:53:32)
    Work:          1877 kJ
    TSS:           247.9 (intensity factor 0.707)
    Norm Power:    148
    Distance:      80 mi
        Min  /  Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  690  /  105     watts
    Cadence:         29  /  244  /  71     rpm
    Speed:           0  /  39.8  /  16.1     mph
    Pace             1:30  /  0:00  /  3:43     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0  /  349  /  65     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  1129 /   129     lb-in

Bluffs Pkwy Hill Repeats - #2

Garmin Connect Ride Data

My second week to return to the Bluff's Pkwy for more fun doing intervals on short duration climbs. I felt an improvement over last week and pushed a little bit harder.

Bike: Cannondale six13
Power Data:
Entire workout (133 watts):
    Duration:      1:04:16 (1:07:33)
    Work:          499 kJ
    TSS:           78.6 (intensity factor 0.868)
    Norm Power:    182
    Distance:      13.885 mi
        Min  /  Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  672 /   133     watts
    Cadence:         30 /   222  /  65     rpm
    Speed:           2.5  /  41.4  /  13.3     mph
    Pace             1:27  /  24:08 /   4:31     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0 /   383  /  108     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  763  /  175     lb-in

Comet - Out and Back

Garmin Connect Ride Data

The Ride: Today I hope that I could go out and do a SST type of ride holding in the L3 zone, but I knew before going or at least wondered how much impact those big rollers had on my legs yesterday. Wow!! The training on the big rollers was obviously pretty good and my legs never did completely open up. Not to mention that an awesome mid 70's sunny day brought out a lot of folks on the Comet trail.

I picked the Comet because it is about the flattest place I know and my desire was to be in a place that required constant pedalling. Yesterday's brutal up and down terrain allowed for some intense short and mid duration climbs, but along with the climbs comes a good bit of coasting. So today it was about finding a place to have a constant or consistent pedal stroke without an opportunity for rest. Also this was a solo ride so there was no drafting as well.

A lot of the times after a hard Saturday ride my legs will often feel tight in the first few miles, but will open up. Today I felt great in the first few miles and the pedal stroke felt effortless, but as the miles racked up my legs and hips just got tighter. Great thing is my heart rate was never taxed at all. There was never a moment I felt myself with labored breathing and all the fatigue and tightness seemed to not impact my heart rate this time around. Normally if my legs are fatigued my heart rate also runs higher.

When I uploaded my data to WKO is was not that impressive just as I had imagined, but I will take every ounce of spinning time I can get until these legs get the point that they are going to cooperate one way or another. The data below looks more like an active recovery ride. bummer.

Power Data:
 Entire workout (103 watts):
    Duration:      2:22:09 (2:29:27)
    Work:          864 kJ
    TSS:           73.9 (intensity factor 0.562)
    Norm Power:    118 
    Distance:      40.86 mi
        Min /   Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  634   / 103     watts
    Cadence:         30  /  222 /   69     rpm
    Speed:           0  /  26.8  /  17.5     mph
    Pace             2:14  /  0:00  /  3:26     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0  /  298  /  40     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0   / 1224  /  129     lb-in

Jasper to Ellijay 56 Miles

Garmin Connect Ride Data

The Group: The group started with Diane, Mike, Tiffany, Bill, Ron, Alan and me

The Ride: We started from the Ingles Parking lot in Jasper and started across the busy highway with a heading toward Talking Rock and climbed the extended big rollers on Hwy. 136. Those were the type of climbs that will stretch out a group of cyclists with each climbing at their own pace. We regrouped at the intersection of 136 and Jones Mountain Road when I got the news that Bill was dropping out of the group. We later saw Bill in the parking lot when we finished and found out that he did some hill repeats and climbed Burnt Mountain. He told us that he ended up going from discouraged to being encouraged about completing the climbs instead of going home. Great job Bill!!!

We stayed on Jones Mountain Road and Yukon Road until we came to the town of Ellijay. We navigated our way through the busy streets to a store and at the store Tiffany's tire flatted as we were standing there, we analyzed why it flatted and discovered that the tube was pressing through the rim tape and fixed the first one. Just as soon as the first was inflated it flatted at a different spot on the rim. Alan purchases a roll of radiator tape from the store, which was all they had, but fortunately for us the tape was both light and tough.

After standing around for quite a while at the store my legs were cold and starting to tighten up as we had climbs immediately leaving the store. The best that I can remember is one hill after another as we were routing our way back to Jasper on Knight Road, Roundtop Road and Mt Pisgah Road. The next several roads really took a lot out of me as if my condition wasn't already bad enough. The rollers continued climb after climb, but now the pavement was also very rough and narrow on Tilley Road, Harris Road and Tatum Road.

The next turn on Antioch Church Road brought some relief with smooth asphalt and a downhill trend until we turned back on Talking Rock Road / Hwy. 5 Alt and the climbing started again and continued for several miles at a less steep gradient, but still my legs had about enough at this point. A few more miles and we were gladly finished with a pretty tough ride.

This is not the type of ride that suits my ability, but thankfully the four riding with me must of had mercy as they had to wait a little at some of the intersections. As Alan joked with me they may not have waited if they had the directions. Though it was a hard ride for me it was certainly enjoyable to be riding with each group member. I put a high value on this route and the training results. I can do well on flatter terrain and I can settle into a long climb, but to have a shorter climb, one after another can be brutal and challenging.

Route Description: a few longer downhill sections, but for the most part relentless big rollers, rough pavement on some roads, higher traffic areas and overall a very challenging route. If you can endure this one you can probably do just about any ride.

Weather: Cool start in the low 40's (F) warming to the low 70's at the end. Skies were sunny and there were some breezes now and then.

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course: (2)24oz. bottle of water with Hammer Heed/10grams Glutamine and BCAA's, (1)Cliff Bar, (1) Accel gel, (1)Post Ride 40gram whey protein drink

Power Data:
 Entire workout (113 watts):
    Duration:      3:40:59 (4:35:49)
    Work:          1472 kJ
    TSS:           224.8 (intensity factor 0.789)
    Norm Power:    166
    Distance:      55.301 mi
        Min  /  Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0   / 709  /  113     watts
    Speed:           2.4  /  40.5  /  15.3     mph
    Pace             1:29  /  25:25  /  3:55     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0  /  417  /  70     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  982  /  133     lb-in

Bluffs Pkwy Hill Repeats

Garmin Connect Ride Data

Now that the daylight savings time changed I am finally able to get out after work and do some training on the Bluffs Parkway in Canton. I could have pushed harder today and perhaps I should have but no doubt it was a good workout. I just wished I could have started this weeks ago.

Power Data
 Entire workout (133 watts):
    Duration:      47:50 (48:41)
    Work:          374 kJ
    TSS:           58.7 (intensity factor 0.867)
    Norm Power:    182
    Distance:      10.513 mi
        Min  /  Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  476   / 133     watts
    Cadence:         38 /   203 /   68     rpm
    Speed:           3.4 /   42.2   / 13.4     mph
    Pace             1:25 /   17:53 /   4:28     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0  /  300  /  107     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0   / 500   / 168     lb-in

Burnt Mountain 65

Garmin Connect Ride Data

The Group: A lot of the usual suspects, minus a few of the usual suspects. We had 14 at the start. Two did not go the same direction. Two turned back. Ten went forward. I am sure all were challenged.

The Ride: No doubt that this was a hard ride for me today as Burnt Mountain typically is. My approach today was just to test myself and see how I would handle the challenging route. Starting from the technical school in Jasper, Alan Pilling suggested we start in another direction and get in a warm up before heading straight the first climb. The hills on Hwy. 136 from Talking Rock were fairly substantial and more than I had thought, but I enjoyed the extra challenge and I was warmed up by the time we started our first big climb of the day, which was 7 miles up the west side of Burnt Mountain.

The pain is not over after the 5 mile descent on the other side. Steve Tate Road has some nice big long rollers as do most of the other roads on the east side loop. We stopped at most intersections and at Juno Baptist Church an attendant was nice enough to refill our water bottles, which was very good because there is nothing else out this way to top off supplies if you need them. The one store we normally stop at on the return was closed down.

Before the store parking area it was me, Gayle, Neal, Tim and Alan together. The rest of the group went ahead. It was the five of us to face the 5 mile climb on the east side and once we start climbing it all comes apart anyway since we all seem to climb at different speeds. The best I could do climbing the east side was about a 5 mph pace. On the last little climb right before the school my right leg cramped up on me pretty bad, but I was able to spin through it.

Overall a very tough, but satisfying day of effort. And a great group as always.

  

Climb Data: (from Garmin Connect Data)
Total Ride Elevation Gain: 6,400
Total Miles: 64

Burnt Mountain - West Side (plus some climbing before we were on Burnt Mountain)
Elevation Start: 1072 feet
Mile Marker Start: 6.4
Ride Time: 0:20:55
_______________________

Elevation End: 2918 feet
Mile Marker End: 18:3
Ride Time: 1:33:47

Total Time Climbing: 1hr 13 min
Total Miles: 11.9
Total Elevation Gain: 1846 feet


Burnt Mountain - East Side

Elevation Start: 1562 feet
Mile Marker Start: 47
Ride Time: 3:23:11
_______________________

Elevation End: 2918 feet

Mile Marker End: 53
Ride Time: 4:09:34

Total Time Climbing: 46 min
Total Miles: 6
Total Elevation Gain: 1356 feet

Route Description: Two big climbs and a lot of big rollers. Very few flat sections.

Weather: Very nice, partly cloudy, breezy and warmer. Into the 70's toward the end.

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course: (2)24oz. bottle of water with Hammer Heed/10grams Glutamine and BCAA's, (1 1/2)Cliff Bar, (2) Accel gel, (1)Post Ride 40gram whey protein drink

Physical Issues: Right knee was a little tender from training this week and lost a lot of fluid during the ride. I was down about 6 pounds at the end of the ride and cramped a little on the last hill.

Power Data:
 Entire workout (103 watts):
    Duration:      4:48:51 (5:24:19)
    Work:          1755 kJ
    TSS:           225.5 (intensity factor 0.691)
    Norm Power:    145
    Distance:      64.5 miles
        Min  /  Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  729  /  103     watts
    Cadence:         29 /   244 /   69     rpm
    Speed:           2.2  /  40   / 13.7     mph
    Pace             1:30 /   26:49  /  4:24     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0  /  392  /  82     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  644  /  131     lb-in