*phew* Busy week! Took the Noah out yesterday, here's some catch-up reporting:
Tuesday (15th) - Climb
Climbed 3hrs w/Kelly, started work on some 10b's. Feeling pretty good!
Wednesday (16th) - Rest Day...plus..
I was actually planning to get out for an MTB ride, but Alyssa was keen on riding out, and i didn't want to on the cold, rainy day that it was...so i lingered around the house....good thing, as early in the afternoon an email from Scotty at OBB popped up in my inbox, with a photo attachment....i'll give you one guess which frame i've been waiting 9 months for that had arrived. ;)
I was actually half-naked, about to get in the shower (bet you appreciate that detail), but threw on some clothes and hoofed it over to the shop. WOOT! I was very excited. Drooled over it for a while, compared the sizing to the Blue, matched-up nicely.
That was pretty much the day there. =)
Thursday (17th) - Ride w/Emile
Decent day, made it out 2+hrs with Emile. I was worried he'd crush me, but near the Wallace Rd turn-off (heading away from town) i'm motoring along and look back, and i'd dropped him! When he catches up he says "you're going too fast!" HAHA! One of the only times i'll ever hear that from Emile. He wasn't feeling great and had a head cold the next day, but we eased off a bit, and he also just drafted a while. 2nd half of the ride was a bit slower, good start tho.
PowerTap details:
Entire workout (195 watts):
Duration: 2:14:38 (2:29:55)
Work: 1556 kJ
TSS: 150.2 (intensity factor 0.822)
Norm Power: 214
VI: 1.1
Distance: 64.681 km
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 853 195 watts
Heart Rate: 77 183 153 bpm
Cadence: 26 120 91 rpm
Speed: 3.7 60.4 29.1 kph
Friday - Climb
Headed to the gym with
Mical Dyck, who had an awesome session, matching me route for route for several climbs. Impressive as she has only been climbing a couple times in Oct, and not since the spring before that..i'd been back on the wall five times over the last three weeks, building up. She's an excellent climber, very strong and smart, picking up the routes very quickly. Nice to have another great climbing partner, she'd get back up to working on 11a's in no time if she weren't to be taking off for work!
My session was good, the main goal was to complete the final two 10a's that had stumped me, and i did it! What that means: NEW SHOES! Next visit i get to break out my FiveTen Jet7 kick-ass climbing shoes. =)
Saturday - OBB Ride
Decent number of people out, maybe 30. It was the first ride that was a fair bit slower! Even through Land's End we hardly picked it up (although just enough to drop Alex - sorry buddy!)
Much bigger group for the sprint.. Emile took off the front just before Camosun. No one responded...i was a few bikes back, and i believe blocked in a bit, and had taken a recent pull... A few people pulled off the front and Dave MacLeod decided to give chase, and he did a spectacular pull, bringing us within striking distance of Emile at the hill at the bottom of the sprint.
I was actually feeling pretty good, and Dave was starting to blow up, so i jammed out to the left and started up the hill, seated. Craig Richey had been in front of me (and behind Dave) and he stood up as i was passing him, he started to crank it and WHAM! I looked back and he was sitting on his top tube!! The rest of the sprint wasn't much, i basically coasted up to the line, Emile had slowed quite a bit, so i 'won', although we were all looking back to make sure Craig was okay, which he was..chain had fallen off the big ring. He also broke a cleat in the process, but fine otherwise.
I also took the King of the Overpass, not even challenged..so a double-crown ride for me. ;)
The numbers, as you can see, an easier ride, measly TSS of only 222. ;)
Entire workout (166 watts):
Duration: 3:12:51 (3:31:22)
Work: 1909 kJ
TSS: 222.6 (intensity factor 0.835)
Norm Power: 217
VI: 1.31
Distance: 98.293 km
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1027 166 watts
Heart Rate: 81 188 144 bpm
Cadence: 20 131 88 rpm
Speed: 0 65.2 30.7 kph
Sunday - MTB
Got picked up by Alex (thanks again!!), and met with Jamie and Alyssa at the parking lot (they rode out, i didn't want to with the rain!)
Fun day of riding, did my regular loop, rode pretty well overall but we were taking it pretty easy. Noticed that i was still pretty sore from the climb on Friday - it really takes it out of my arms and back!! At the end of the day, it looked something like this - surprised by the difference from AP and NP:
Entire workout (163 watts):
Duration: 1:32:16 (2:43:39)
Work: 901 kJ
TSS: 113.7 (intensity factor 0.86)
Norm Power: 224
VI: 1.37
Distance: 15.386 km
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1023 163 watts
Heart Rate: 70 178 145 bpm
Cadence: 30 201 77 rpm
Speed: 3.8 34.4 10.3 kph
Monday - Climb
2.5hrs with Kelly, first day back in the Jet7 shoes - they feel SO AWESOME. I didn't want to start wearing them right away because the soles have very sharp edges, and i didn't want to wear them down floundering around as i got my form back..so i set the rule of having to clean all the 10a's before wearing them.
Good session, worked more on the 10b's, and started working on a couple of the c's.
Tuesday - Ride - RIDLEY RIDE!
Oh wow. First thing i can say: it was worth the wait. This bike is freaking AMAZING.
First thing i noticed as i'm headed to the Switch Bridge to meet Chad is that when the bike gets around 40kph, it just wants to go faster. It really flows through the air...
Getting out of the saddle uphill feels SOLID. I'm noticing how sloppy other parts are, like my front wheel.
The
Lizard Skins bar tape is AMAZING. Very comfortable, and the tactile sensation is PRIMO. LOVE IT! I'm buying boxes of this stuff. And the orange looks hot, esp. now that i've swapped in a black Conti GP4000. And nice matching bar plugs too. Stylin'!
Over the jittery stuff the bike surprised me - it actually soaked it up, and i was pretty comfortable! I was expecting the stiffness to be too much, but the high-frequencies are nullified nicely.
Final 'a-ha' moment was riding up Ash Hill, i kept seated, and amazingly i could feel each pedal stroke going straight to the wheel. Normally it feels like energy is going into the cranks and BB and perhaps the chainstays or seatstays are flexing, but this just felt SOLID. All my work was going into making the wheel spin. Very nice.
The fit is great, i'm going to try raising the seat a hair, and slide it forward a wee bit, but otherwise i'm pretty freaking happy with it!!! I can't wait for the summer to race this thing!!
Otherwise a good ride with Chad, hope i didn't bore him with all my surprised expressions and fawning over the bike..hehe..
Entire workout (201 watts):
Duration: 1:57:07 (2:03:06)
Work: 1403 kJ
TSS: 152 (intensity factor 0.886)
Norm Power: 230
VI: 1.14
Distance: 57.035 km
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 875 201 watts
Cadence: 29 136 90 rpm
Speed: 3.7 64.6 29.4 kph
Didn't put on the HR strap, was in a hurry, running late!
Wed (today) - Climb
Felt pretty good, got out for 3hrs w/Kelly and Mical. Made more progress on the 10b's and c's i've been working on...should be able to clean some of them in the next session or two...figuring out the tougher bits, and letting my fingers catch up.
Pretty fried again, my back and fingers still ache as i type!
That's the last few days, it's been an exciting week!! Looks like tomorrow will be another dry day, so hoping to spend some more time on the Ridley, might do my 'Hour of Power' route to compare numbers.
Friday, got an easy/fun/social MTB ride planned, aiming to hit all the trails we normally pass on (Green Ribbon, Sofa King, etc). 'Big Bike' day as some say.
Saturday is the annual Boxing Day TT - again, if it's dry, i'm hoping to ride the Noah out! First race! Eeep!
And Sunday ought to be another MTB ride.
Happy Winter Salsa everyone!
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=============Labels: climbing, new bike, training
