Sunday Solo Cruise

Route and Ride Data Links:

Strava - Today's Route

Ride Metrics:

Time Total: 2:10:25
Time Moving: 2:10:18
Distance (mile): 40.9
VI: 1.08
IF: 0.77
TSS: 128
Work (kj): 974
Average Power: 125
Max Power: 441
Normal Power: 135
Cadence (rpm): 71
Speed Avg (mph): 18.8

Goal:

Build Endurance

Ride Description:

It's been an interesting week. First, I was able to drop off the Felt IA16 with Curtis at Cannon Cyclery to refine and upgrade any remaining components with hopes of achieving the best tune possible out of the SRAM etap group. 

I was able to get in a couple of indoor sessions, but on Thursday I was running behind and with only 30 minutes available I thought about trying the FTP Ramp test built into PerfPro. Not really psyched up to do the test and not really prepared in terms of a taper or rest I thought what is the harm. Why not give it a try and see what happens. At 15 minutes I was finally starting to feel the fatigue building. At 20 minutes I thought that was it. At 22 minutes it was all I had in me and had to bail. PerfPro gave me a message of congrats that my FTP had improved by 10 watts. Hmmm? I felt a bit skeptical about using this new number to set my indoor training session. On Saturday I did a 2x20 minute session using the new FTP at 91% and it felt pretty good so maybe it was a good test. 

On Friday I was able to pick up the Felt IA16 from Cannon Cyclery. Curtis went over all the upgrades and refinements that were needed. Some were expected, such as, the chain rings were really old and well worn. Plus, they were not suitable for the newer SRAM groups. The bottom bracket needed changing. I wanted a new chain to be sized correctly with the etap. The front and rear brakes needed adjusting and some other work. The etap group was tuned. Bottom line from my perspective invested a lot the etap group and the TriRig bars and wanted the best, in my opinion, to finish this out and make it something that performs well. Curtis added new 

• SRAM Red Yaw 11 speed 52/36 rings 
• Wheels MFG SRAM ABEC3 BB30 to GXP OutBoard Bottom Bracket
• Brake cables replaced / refined
• Sunrace CSRX1 11-28 cassette
• KMC X11.93 chain cleaned, hot waxed and sized

Today's ride at the Comet was fantastic. The group was very quiet and shifted precisely up and down on the large ring. I was so caught up on going a decent pace that I forgot to drop it to the small ring for a test. Now with the Felt complete and as far as I going to take it with upgrades, I am now ready to focus entirely on training. The bike is as good as I can expect. The fit feels good for this 40 mile ride and now I just need to how I feel on some longer courses. Looking down and not seeing any cables at all and a clean looking BTA bottle mount with no zip ties or Velcro straps is nice as well, but I think this bike felt a bit faster today. Perhaps it is true that one can buy speed. Well one thing is for sure a well tuned drive train that has less wasted energy can take more energy to put towards pushing the bike forward.

Weather:

Temperature Start (F): 65
Temperature Finish (F): 65
Wind: Breezy (some wind resistance at times)
Sky: Partly cloudy 

Nutrition Intake During and Immediately After:

Bottle #1 24oz. Water, BCAA / Amino mix, Maltodextrin
GU gel at mile 20
Post Ride: 30 gram protein drink

Gear: 

  Felt  IA16 

Sunrace CSRX1 11-20 (a little dirty from going through some puddles)