Don't You Love Training Ride Reports?

I'm going to be that girl - the one who details every move of her recent training rides.  I find it entertaining and, frankly, I enjoy rambling so it works for me. 

The last two weekends have been chock-full of awesome rides- two 10am adventures, some intervals at Hains to break things up and two - count them - two Union Bridge rides.  Mileage is really adding up and I'm feeling those back-to-back hard efforts.

The 10am is ... well, the 10am.  Everyone knows it.  I've often been heard saying that all the fast girls ride with the guys, so off I go.  I hold my own most of the time and everyone's friendly, with the occasional exception of an insecure guy who has something to prove.  For the most part, I have a bunch of big-brothers there who are willing to let me hang on as long as I'm willing to suffer.  

This week it was windy as heck - I ran into a few people I hadn't seen in a while and all I could say in answer to "Hey, how are ya?" was ... "just trying to find shelter".  That was the name of the game for me.

I knew I was in trouble when the line I was in started to paceline.  I have absolutely no business taking the front when I'm playing with the big boys - especially when there's a couple dozen guys sitting on.  That said, I took my pull because I'm NOT going to be the "girl" that eff's up the paceline.  Then I silently slipped back a little ways, desperately trying to find the lung that I just lost.  I was in good shape ... until I wasn't.  I somehow found the breath to tell the boy to "just go ... leave me, save yourself".  I'm not sure I actually said all of that - but I was thinking it.  The Artemis boys (who had already done the 7am) immediately picked me up, gave me a second to recover and off we went.  Really, that's what I needed - just a second to recover.  That is more than what's on offer if you want to play with the big boys.

We - the Artemi and I - took the left at Esworthy and swore we'd get caught by the lead group.  We picked up a couple others, played up and down the hills on the way in and made it to Beach/East-West with plenty of time to spare.  In other words, we weren't soft-pedaling in.  I met up with the boy and limped home. 

On to Union Bridge:

The first UB ride (President's Day) was the inaugural ride for the boy and the first time for me in almost a year.  We dragged another couple along for good measure - thankfully, they were up for the challenge.  The general rule on this ride (for me) is that beating the 4hr mark means you're rolling.

As for our guest couple:  The Mrs. loved the hills while the Mr. - kind of new to long-hilly-rides - gets the gold medal for getting through his longest ride to date, with only 23 on the back and even keeping a smile - or was that a grimace?  The boy was awesome, helping the Mr. up the climbs when needed and generally giving tips and being supportive while the Mrs. and I chased each other up and down the hills.  Final ride time - 4:07.  Not too shabby for the first time out!

The next go-round happened faster than even *I* thought.  We decided to head back only 6 days later (this past Sunday - mere hours after the 10am detailed above).  The Mr. and Mrs. were OoT, so we grabbed one of the boy's teammates and off we went.  To be honest, I was pretty tired.  I knew I had to get through, though - I was the only one who knew the route! 

Every time I take someone new on this ride, I hear the same responses when we turn certain corners or something comes into view.  I try to warn people but ... this is one you just have to be there.  When we get to the quarry (it looks like something out of the mad-max film genre), I know I'm going to be ok.  There's a mid-point stop if you want it - if it's super cold or we don't need food/water, I tend to just keep rolling.  The way out is harder than the way back, with the exception of 6 long-ish "sawtooth" type hills that show up (one after the other) with about 17miles to go.  You're already tenderized and enjoying a nice roll back until you turn the corner and see hill #1.  Newbies on this ride usually say "HOLY S@#$" right about this time.  The first one is the worst, with the 2nd hill a close contender (this one even gives you a place to pray for strength at the top - ever notice there's often a church at the top of a hard climb?).  The last two - you see the end in sight and you're just surviving.  Oh, and the last one has -you guessed it- a church at the top!!

I was the weak link in this threesome -again- all the fast girls ride with the guys, right?  That said, it didn't stop me from trying a few sign sprints or charging on my favorite stretches.  I am VERY goal-oriented and our goal was to beat our prior record.  We failed to inform the teammate of this goal - this didn't become an issue until we were still pushing the pace through the neighborhood where normal people would spin a little, cool-down and congratulate themselves on surviving. I heard the teammate say (under his breath) "aren't we going to cool down?" I smiled and breathed "we're trying to beat our last record".  He took it well - or he didn't try to push me off my bike so I assume he took it well.  Final time:  3:50. 

SUCCESS!!  Now - on to beating THAT record.  Maybe after a little recovery. 

TGIF - 2/10/12

I need to put an immediate disclaimer here that this post will likely be more rambling than usual - and I realize that's sayin' something!

There's been plenty going on over the past couple of weeks and I have had a few moments of "oh, I should mention that on my blog".  Then something bright and shiny will catch my eye and the moment is lost.  I can't complain about the weather right now because, lets face it, we've had an unusually mild winter so far and I don't want to jinx it.  Maybe I should get a new winter jacket and thermal bib tights every year to ensure that Mother Nature gives us mild weather in order to thwart my best efforts.  The warm-ish weather we've had probably ensures that EVERYONE will peak for Jeff Cup this year.  I could have used a little more -selective-weather as I get my racing legs back under me.  I have to make up in training what I lack in natural talent so if everyone is training at the same rate I am ... well, it could be an interesting journey back into the peloton. 

The boy and I briefly considered Wolfpack this weekend.  It doesn't take much to convince me to take a trip to NC (especially with the added benefit of visiting Ken and Laura!) but for one race on a "short" 2-day weekend (I again reference my constant lobbying for regular 3-day weekends), it just wasn't in the cards.

While my 3-day weekend lobbying has not panned out as of yet, I have finally convinced my place of employ to give us a little (LITTLE) in the way of flexible hours. I've been lobbying for this since October and I'd be lying if I didn't admit there were tears involved.  Hey, use what you've got, ya know?  Anyway, I explained the newly instituted system to the Fuentii while we were watching the Superbowl last Sunday and Mrs. Fuentes laughed out loud, saying ... "THAT'S what they call flexible?!?!" Sigh.  I'll take what I can get as the commute of 11 miles usually takes at least 45min for the 9-5 schedule.  I now have the privilege of shifting my commute by one hour, 3 days a week, which gets me home by about 430 with significantly less stress.  This also puts me on my bike by 5 and since the weather has been agreeable, I've made my way to HP more than a couple of times.  I even got to do my 20s down there earlier this week - while 20s are never "fun", they were closer to "fun" outside as opposed to our cramped roller set-up.

Much prettier than  my view of the window fan on the rollers

Speaking of a cramped roller set-up, I took my first "progress test" on the rollers a couple weekends ago.  Seeing power numbers during regular roller rides makes me happy - perceived effort is sometimes not quite what I think it is and the power meter keeps me honest.  Seeing those numbers on a power test didn't work out so well for me. I started out wayyy too hard - oh, I feel good, I can hold this for 20mins - about 5mins in, I realized the error of my ways and took it down a notch but the second I saw numbers dipping way down, I mentally threw anchor.  FAIL.  It's much easier just to start at the bottom of Dickey Ridge and go as hard as you can until the 20mins is over.  This explains why I can run a power-meter during races - I don't look at the numbers (what are you gonna do, slow down and miss the break because you're out of zone?). After pouting and generally being bitter about the whole thing, I did a different "ramp" type effort to extrapolate power.  Overall, I'm happy with the outcome and happy it's over.


On the more random side: Facebook.  Yes, I'm still a holdout but it's getting harder by the minute.  I was shopping online recently and there was a coupon to be had - but you had to be on Facebook to get it.  I know there are postings about rides in the area or other events that I'm missing.  For the record, I still don't support Facebook for all of the petty ways that some people use it - seriously, de-friending someone in retaliation - what is this, middle school? - but I have to admit that I've considered putting up a very anonymous page just to see what all the fuss is about.  I fear being labeled as a Neo-Luddite if I hold out too much longer.