Brewery to Crane Eater Road

(me, Jamie, Diane and Dan)

Garmin Connect Ride Data
Ride Summary:
Distance: 60.59 mi
Elevation Gain: 2,656 ft
Moving Time: 03:20:24
Avg Speed: 17.2 mph
Max Speed: 35.9 mph

The Group: Jamie, Diane, Dan and me

The Ride: It feels like months since I have been able to ride with my buddies, Jamie and Diane. They also invited Dan Thorton (owner of FreeFlite) to ride with us today. The three of them were very gracious to ride at a calmer pace for me because they have the ability to open up the turbos if they want, but today they took it easy on me for the most part. We still had some spirited sections and why not on flat rural roads? The roads we were on today just make you want to go fast. Unfortunately I had to take it easy because the test (*see note below) this past Wednesday took a good bit out of me and I still had not recovered enough.

We followed the route preloaded in my Garmin 705 until the store stop, but after that Diane and Jamie took us on a different route back and it was a pleasant change. At mile 53 I split from the three and took the marked route back and they went for a few more miles.

Good amount of miles, good pace, great weather for June, great rural roads.
And the best of all another very pleasant day riding with my cycling buddies.

*My right upper inner quadriceps felt as if it was slightly strained in the FT test the other day. I felt a small twinge in the leg when I did one of the sprint warm ups from a track stand position. Today I felt it as I went over 300 watts on some of the climbs, but did not feel it on the flats, downhills or when the watts were in the low 200 or below. From about mile 40 to the end I tried not to stand and exert too much on some of the small hills and instead stay seated and spin lighter. This put me behind the group a little bit on each hill, but they were gracious to slow down and let me catch up.

The Weather: Cloudy, 86 (feels like 92 according the Weather Channel), 4 mph winds from the NW.

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course: (1) 24 oz. bottle of water with glutamine, BCAA's, and Hammer Heed, (1) 24 oz. bottle of water with Hammer Perpetuem (1) Cliff bar, (1) Hammer gel

 Power Data: (Had a lot of data drops again today)

 Entire workout (126 watts):
    Duration:      3:30:06 (3:45:38)
    Work:          1556 kJ
    TSS:           223.5 (intensity factor 0.809)
    Norm Power:    162
    VI:            1.28
    Distance:      59.478 mi
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    570    126     watts
    Cadence:         29    183    80     rpm
    Speed:           0    35.9    16.9     mph
    Pace             1:40    0:00    3:33     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0    364    55     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0    668    138     lb-in

Brewery BBC 67

Garmin Connect Ride Data
Ride Summary:
Distance: 67.13 mi
Elevation Gain: 2,925 ft
Time: 04:03:38
Avg Speed: 16.5 mph
Max Speed: 35.1 mph

The Group: Claire, Edgar, Doug and me

The Ride: Just the four of us headed out on the much used BBC Metric ~67 mile route. My personal goal was to just keep my pace somewhat calm today in preparation for the Functional Threshold test coming up next week. We did stay together until about mile 40 something and I urged the three of them to go ahead because I was going to drop my level down a notch or two. Within a few seconds they were out of sight and I finished the remaining miles at a much calmer pace, but with the heat today I still began to struggle. About mile 55 one of my legs wanted to cramp so I pulled off, took some Endurolytes, water and rested a minute.

Rolling into the parking, Claire, Edgar and Doug were hanging out under a shade tree so I pulled over to chat for a few minutes and cool off. During the ride Claire asked about my goal for the day and I mentioned that I would like to end with about a 0.65 IF and I hit that dead on. I am just a little tired and exhausted from the heat as I guess many of the local cyclist are today, but as far as I know everyone finished just fine.

We saw Alan, Neal, Nancy, Jamie, Kit, Keith and Rod roll in from their 80 mile route from the brewery out to Horn Mountain and all of them look okay as well. Based on how I felt for the 67 I am glad I did not go on that ride. Those extra few miles in this heat would feel like double the miles. Plus they finished with a pretty good average speed so they were pushing pretty good.

My week summary for training was pretty good. I did short duration intervals most of the week and twice a day. My summary for this week is  8 hours and 387 TSS (based on outdated swag FT numbers), but the FT test next week will hopefully help dial all of this in and get my data just that much more accurate. On reflection I am pretty happy how it all played out as a week training summary.

The Weather: Sunny and hot 89 (feels like 95 according the Weather Channel), calm air.


Nutrition Intake During and after the Course: (2) 24 oz. bottle of water with glutamine, BCAA's, and Hammer Heed, (1) Cliff bar, (2) Hammer gel, 12 oz. water refill

 Power Data:
 Entire workout (113 watts):
    Duration:      4:06:32 (4:29:56)
    Work:          1614 kJ
    TSS:           167.8 (intensity factor 0.65)
    Norm Power:    149
    VI:            1.33
    Distance:      65.775 mi
        Min  /  Max   / Avg
    Power:           0   / 557 /   113     watts
    Cadence:         29 /   209  /  79     rpm
    Speed:           0  /  34.2   / 16.1     mph
    Pace             1:45  /  0:00 /   3:44     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0  /  349  /  52     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  570  /  125     lb-in

Red Bud - 60 Miles

Garmin Connect Ride Data
Distance: 59.17 mi
Elevation Gain: 2,477 ft
Moving Time: 03:16:48
Avg Speed: 18.0 mph
Max Speed: 34.4 mph

The Group: Doug, Peter, Alan, John, Steve, Rod, Jason and me. Later in the ride we picked up Elizabeth and I think the guy's name is Tom.


The Ride: I put out a late email and was expecting to ride either solo or have a couple join me. To my surprise there were eight of us today for most of the route and then later two more joined us. Since I was not expecting a group I did not plan anything special so it was a typical route out to Red Bud again. Flat to small rolling hills would be the best description for today.

I had been ramping up my training all week and I could tell in those first few miles that I was fatigued. My intentions were to keep a calm steady pace for ~60 miles. However, most everyone on that rode with me today are strong cyclists so the pace was up a little higher than I had planned. We averaged about 19 mph when we came to the store stop after about an hour and a half of riding. Before the store stop Rod came back and helped me back up to the group on a couple of occasions. Just before we came to the store we picked up Tom and Elizabeth.

Earlier in the ride I asked the group to go on without me so that I could ride at a calmer pace and after the store I was able to drop off the back and enjoy the remaining miles at a pace that I could handle. I knew the group was going to pick up the pace a bit as well and I hear that they did. Doug dropped back and finished the remaining miles with me.

Even though I was a bit fatigued and could not keep up with the group I did enjoy those who did ride with me today. I think the group etiquette was really nice today and people that were pulling were looking back at least to see if they were at a good pace and not pulling the group apart. Everyone seemed to take a turn doing their work pulling the group and Alan helped me shout the direction up to those pulling in the front.

 The Weather: Hazy and overcast at the start, hot, humid, calm air. The kind of day you can sweat just standing outside doing nothing.

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course: (2) 24 oz. bottle of water with Hammer Heed, (1/2) Cliff bar, (2) Hammer gel, 12 oz. water refill

My Powertap wheel was returned after being serviced at Saris and I am glad to see my data looks correct again . However, I now need to go back out to test my FT.


Power Data:
Entire workout (134 watts):
    Duration:      3:08:59 (3:23:58)
    Work:          1475 kJ
    TSS:           203.5 (intensity factor 0.817)
    Norm Power:    172
    VI:            1.28
    Distance:      55.287 mi
        Min  /  Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  585  /  134     watts
    Cadence:         29  /  193   / 79     rpm
    Speed:           0  /  34.8   / 17.5     mph
    Pace             1:43 /   0:00 /   3:25     min/mi
    Hub Torque:    0  //388   / 55     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  740  /  150     lb-in

Red Bud - 70 Miles

Garmin Connect Ride Data
Ride Summary:
Distance: 70.79 mi
Elevation Gain: 2,780 ft
Time: 04:02:35
Avg Speed: 17.6 mph
Max Speed: 34.9 mph

The Group: Derek, Gary, Claire, Edgar, Doug and me


The Ride: Derek led us out on another great route with mostly flat roads and as a bonus we ended with 70 miles instead of 60. The route really was fun and the small group made it very enjoyable. We all stayed together through out the ride with just some fun moments here and there and sometimes Edgar or others would get out a bit further, but they would wait on me to catch up. I told Derek before the ride that I would stay at a calm pace and my goal was just to enjoy cycling. I will do the more intense training in solo rides or efforts.

Claire had her day with the wild life. At one point a hawk swooped down a few feet from her head and screeched or at least it appeared that way and later in the ride a bunch of small dogs ran out from the bushes and she rolled over one the size of a Scottish Terrier. I was surprised and grateful that she did not crash and unfortunately I could still hear the dog yelping for a while in the background.

Claire also brought her friend, Doug, with her today and we enjoyed his company. He worked in well with our small group and did his share of pulling the group. He is welcome back anytime.

Gary was in usual form and had the power available in his legs to challenge Edgar on several occasions. Someone needs to keep Edgar entertained and today Gary had the strength to be the rabbit a few times. It was also good to get back to riding with Gary because we have not ridden together for a few weeks.

Derek did a great job with the route and leading us today. Soon he will be leading us on his century ride from the brewery to Fort Mountain. Should be a great ride. I have heard a lot of good things about the route.

 The Weather: Sunny and hot, calm air.


Nutrition Intake During and after the Course: (2) 24 oz. bottle of water with glutamine, BCAA's, maltodextrin and Hammer Heed, (1) Cliff bar, (2) Hammer gel, 12 oz. water refill