Two hard rides

Yesterday I drove down to Northville and rode a few loops of Hines Drive (~35 miles per loop). I decided against heading the other direction toward Whitmore Lake because the weather was questionable and Hines Drive is likely much safer in the event of rain - cars actually expect cyclists to be on the road, and there's a shoulder the entire way. Since Stacey and I lived in Northville last year, Hines Drive was our go to route. Hines Drive is actually a park running through a whole bunch of adjacent cities, and whoever oversees its operation is even so kind as to close down a few mile stretch for a few hours each Saturday and Sunday so that only non-motorized vehicles are allowed. Usually that part of the park is fairly crowded, which is always pleasant.

Anyhow, I rode fairly hard, and probably started out a bit too hard. I was able to spend a lot of time at 24-25 mph at my moderately hard intensity, which is a nice improvement over last year. The handfull of lights don't help the average watts or power, though. Anyhow, I could have continued longer at the same effort or a higher effort, by my RPE was higher at the end of the ride than the beginning by a fair amount.

Averages: 21.2 mph, 141 bpm, 197 W, 77 RPM

Looking at the data, however, it appears that I rode around 225 W for the first hour and a half, dipped to maybe 210 W for an hour, and then picked it back up to 225 W until my cool down.

Oh, and I might have accidentally thrown out the new jacket Stacey gave me. My workout clothes drawer was getting pretty crowded, so a week or two ago I grabbed a few old race shirts that I never wear for one reason or another (hideous design, awkward sizing, low quality, and often all of the above). On a side note, race directions, please stop giving out t-shirts and jerseys. Also, please stop giving trophies for awards. I would much rather have, say, a Starbucks, Chipolte, Barnes and Noble or local tri shop gift card, even if only $5, for an award. Hell, I'd rather have a ten pack of Gu or some Cliff Bars, or anything else that I can actually put to use and not feel guilty for throwing it out. Anyhow, I threw out a few shirts since my bike-cleaning rag pile is pretty robust and Stacey had recently made a trip to Goodwill for to donate a bag of clothes. As I'm shifting through my drawer, I recall that. "Oh no, oh no, oh no," I repeated aloud to no one. I'll have Stacey look around for it too, so hopefully she has some Nacny Drew skills that I've yet to see that'll allow her to get to the bottom of the case of the missing cycling jacket.

I did an easy 40 minute run a few hours after the ride. My legs felt great, so I did a few brief pick-ups, but otherwise kept it easy. Uneventful, all in all.

I was dreading today's workout and procrastinated for two hours or so before I finally got aboard my bike. I was hoping to have a companion in suffering, but Stacey bailed to attend her sister-in-law's baby shower. Now that I think about it, I probably had the less painful afternoon.

I set up 6 water bottles, half with Infinit, two Powerbars, and three gels. I turned down the A/C to the low 60's and put a fan angled a few feet in front of me. I angled the TV and speakers, and figured out what to watch for three hours. I placed a folded towel across my aerbars to prevent sweat from crusting up my bike, though I should have had a second towel hand for later in the ride. I mentally prepared myself to suffer for a few hours.

The ride didn't start out too bad. During the warm-up, I picked the power up to >250 W a few times for 20 seconds or so at a time, and I felt ready to start. The first hour wasn't bad, maybe an RPE of 7.5/10. I notice that on the trainer I select a much lower cadence than on the road, perhaps as a result of different amounts of inertia. Finding a gear that put my around 77-79 rpm for 240 W felt easier than the 82-83 rpm that I'd need to get the same power in gear easier. On the road, though, I'd probably go around 85 rpm.

About the end of the first hour my RPE went up a bit to about 8. By an hour and a half in, my RPE went up to 8.5 and I had to start sitting-up occasionally. By two hours the RPE approached 9 and my position changes were more frequent. Had I stopped at two and a half hours, the work-out wouldn't have been nearly as tough, but the last half hour was a bit painful. I frequently shifting between sitting up and being in the aerobars, even standing pretty often, anything to try to find some still powerful muscles that I could utilize to keep the watts up. I tried shifting a gear easier and upping the cadence for a few minutes as a break from my grinding it out. With about 20 minutes to go I found a Green Day concert on TV and cranked the volume was up, which actually helped a bit. The RPE for the last half hour was 9.5. It was a solid effort.

Averages - 241 W, 149 bpm, 77 RPM.
My legs are a bit thrashed now, but I made an awesome recovery smoothie that'll repair 'em in no time. I went through the cupboards and refrigerator and threw everything that looked good into the blender. Ice, plain yogurt, a peach that had a squishy brown portion, a frozen berry medley, honey, some concentrated juice (OJ?) mix, dextrose, protein powder, and maybe another ingredient or two added up to a surprisingly tasty beverage.

Finally, morning weight - 162.0. Four pounds up from yesterday, but 158 was too low too quick.