Did You Ride Today?

[CAMPYBOB]

Killer workout! I made 600 Watts average for the first three 20-minutes periods of the ride and then lit the afterburners to output 800 Watts average over the last 20 minutes of the workout! I know I did this because a training manual said I did! Hell, all us well trained old farts can easily hold 800 Watts if the terrain is flat! If I would only have mounted some tubeless tires I'm certain I could have made 601 Watts!

Ok. Back to reality...

76 degrees today. Warmer, but still seriously overcast and dark clouds again were passing by low and kind of looking like it could open up and rain at any minute. The wind was listed at 6 MPH, but was closer to 'calm' going by what I felt on any heading.

Just a short 22-mile climbing ride with just under 1200' of vertical.

A decent effort considering the legs were still not fully back yet.

Sounds like a 40%-45% chance of rain from sun up to dark tomorrow. Bummer. Might be outside. Might be in the basement.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

81 degrees with humidity so high it was ready to rain at any minute. I had to pull a fast U-turn when I ran into it about 8 miles into the ride. The wind was again fairly calm at 5 to 6 MPH.

Dark clouds were rolling low overhead again this afternoon. It just plain looked like rain despite the computer sites saying only a 10% chance and the radar showing the all clear. Whatever!

Started off easy and warmed up on a flat course right towards some nasty looking clouds. a few miles later I found out those clouds dumped all over what was going be the Northern legs of my route. And with the humidity high the roads weren't going to dry off any time soon.

With thunder rolling in the distance I pulled that U-turn and headed back the way I came. No more rain and the sun even came out just as I finished up 28 miles and just under 800' of climbing on a fairly flat course.

Yeah, it's been that kind of Summer. Wet. Warm. Humid.

Still, it sure beats riding the trainer!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

83 degrees, warm, humid and sunny! A beautiful day!

I jumped out for an easy 12-mile cruise. Just keeping the legs fresh for tomorrow or Sunday. Only 350' of easy climbing. Just another fun run through the Amish countryside.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Saturday 09/15/2018:

83 degrees and sunny! The wind at 9 to 12 MPH and very humid.

A nice 34-mile ride with 1400' of climbing.

 

[jhuskey]

800 watts. That beats my 221 which is low for me but I have been about 20 watts off as of late. Florence but a damper on yesterday but it's better than the flooding the coast got.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Sunday 09/16/2018:

Again, 83 degrees and sunny and again winds at 9 to 12 MPH.

44 miles with just under 1800' of climbing.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

800 watts. That beats my 221 which is low for me but I have been about 20 watts off as of late. Florence but a damper on yesterday but it's better than the flooding the coast got.

Well, cyclintom told me his 'Training Manual' says us old farts have some real serious power!

Rain from Flo reached us this morning and we got about an inch today with more expected all night, tonight. Tomorrow is called as partly cloudy.

I'll hit the trainer for Zwift this afternoon on some dead legs.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

83 degrees and sunny. Humidity really up there again. The wind at 7 to 10 MPH. Perfect! Let's ride!

Just had time for a 23-mile session and I made up in effort for what it lacked in length. Full gas out of the starting blocks. No warm up, just hit it and don't look back. Power up for as long as I could hod it together. Fast, short recoveries and then right back on cam.

I like that type of workout. Punch, punch, punch and just keep it under Kaboom level threshold.

Only 600' of climbing over a flat'ish course with lots of turns and stops to test acceleration and getting it back up to speed quickly.

A fun ride full of sweat and smiles.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Cooler at 81 degrees today, sunny and still on the humid side. The wind at 7 to 9 MPH. A beautiful afternoon after some unexpected morning rain that came with lightning and thunder.

Another short 23-mile ride with a little more climbing.

Just under 1000' of vertical with some fast descents. The legs were a bit flat starting out and only the last 6 or 7 miles were anything close to 'fast'. Weird...I felt the best when sweating and climbing. I didn't climb light 'n easy, but it felt good going up for some reason.

Traffic was light, although I did see one dumbass driver pull out of their drive as I was headed towards them...right in front of a Harley with a guy and his wife/girlfriend that was coming from the opposite direction. The gal and I just shook our heads as we passed. She did scream to alert her husband/boyfriend, but he was already hard on the brakes.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Cooler at 81 degrees today, sunny and still on the humid side. The wind at 7 to 9 MPH. A beautiful afternoon after some unexpected morning rain that came with lightning and thunder.

Another short 23-mile ride with a little more climbing.

Just under 1000' of vertical with some fast descents. The legs were a bit flat starting out and only the last 6 or 7 miles were anything close to 'fast'. Weird...I felt the best when sweating and climbing. I didn't climb light 'n easy, but it felt good going up for some reason.

Traffic was light, although I did see one dumbass driver pull out of their drive as I was headed towards them...right in front of a Harley with a guy and his wife/girlfriend that was coming from the opposite direction. The gal and I just shook our heads as we passed. She did scream to alert her husband/boyfriend, but he was already hard on the brakes.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

84 degrees and sunny with the wind at a fairly mild 9 to 10 MPH (felt lower than that). The humidity...was stillhigh. Sweat just standing in the sun! No worries! My kind of weather! Perfect! Let's ride!

24 miles with only 550' of light climbing on easy rollers suited to the puncheur.

Today, the power just flowed. Not the 600 or 800 Watts cyclintom has, but it was just easy to keep the legs on cam. Big gears, big gears, big gears! Without any real climbs on this 15-mile loop with a 9-mile out & back tacked on it was a game of gear jamming and trying to keep those legs turning over fast. And for once, they did!

Was it Shane Miller that uses the expression, "Giving it the biscuits!"? I think that's Aussie speak for putting down the powah! Over every roller in whatever gear I was in. Big-ring'ed them all. Wasn't it Johan Museeuw, The Lion Of Flanders, that once said of compact chainsets, " A 50 tooth? That's to small for climbing!"

Blasted over the tops of everything with a head of steam and upshifted as fast as I could. I was doing great until a car back chased me up a hill at ludicrous speed. It took me 3 miles to recover just banging gears trying to keep my revs and road speed up.

All said, a really good session. Quality over quantity every time.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

85 degrees, hot, humid and sunny The wind was an insane 17 to 20 MPH with almost steady gusting to 30 MPH as a cold front with rain was rapidly moving into the area. A half hour after I got back home the sky was pitch black and the wind gusts picked up 40 MPH as the first downpour hit. I think we only got about 1/2" of rain, but it came hard and fast.

26 miles with only 750' of climbing. I tried to back up yesterday's ride with a fast run, but the wind just flattened me. Damned near blew me off a turn as a gust decided my apex wasn't where it wanted it.

Lots of 'trying', but little in the way of speed. The wind kept forcing me down one, two or three gears and I finally ran up the white flag with about 5 miles from the car.

It was a fun ride and I got lucky and beat the rain.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Only 67 degrees and mostly overcast today. No threat of rain though and the wind was 7 to 10 MPH.

After a bunch of little jobs I had to get done, I lit out around 2 PM and headed of to climb a bunch of hills. Ended up with 52 miles and 2,900' of vertical.

Mostly depressing cloud cover ranging from 100% to 80% before the sun finally broke through for the last 12 miles to the car.

Slogged over every climb. The legs were not turning over. Way too much walking and work yesterday and the temperature drop made them feel like I need embrocation or a ticket to someplace warm!

A fun ride, but I felt like a sat on the throttle lever too much. The upcoming week looks to be more rain and cooler temperatures.

Goodbeye and farewell, Summer! We hardly knew ye!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

65 degrees and rain all afternoon and evening. The wind was at 12 MPH steady under a dark sky.

I hit the trainer for an hour and forty-five minutes worth of Zwift, Innsbruck.

Dead legs and of course it was fast and hard. I had nothing and tried to keep up with the roadies as best I could. I climbed the short 7%-6% hill on the Innsbruckring as well as ever, but I got blasted by the guys honking big gears and charging it.

A fun workout!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

72 degrees and more rain. Rain in the morning. Rain in the afternoon. Wind 9 to 15 MPH.

Meh. Another session on the trainer. 1 Hr. 47 Min. on Zwift. Innsbruck for 8 days in a row to commemorate the World's. Boring. If it rains tomorrow it's world hack or ride outside and get wet.

5 freaking laps of the Innsbruckring course. Fast, which was good. I concentrated on not blowing up every time I jumped in a group and went hammering.

Figured out the 'hill' has right around 288 pedal complete revolutions or 576 pedal strokes. Yes, I was so ready to drive nails into my eyes I actually boot stomped that hill five time and did cadence counts all the way up just to maintain my sanity and try and keep other rider from passing me, knowing ho long I had to hold onto what is basically a low-speed sprint from bottom (5%) to top (8% or 9%). 1500+ vertical feet of fake climbing.

15 Ride On's from other folks (1500 riders in the game this afternoon) so I must have been doing something right.

My legs are toast. Hot shower, here I come!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

67 degrees and morning rain followed by...afternoon rain! The wind was a low 7 to 8 MPH.

The roads partially dried and I headed out for a short recon ride to see how much flooding there was. I got detoured at the 12 mile mark by 2' of water on one of my usual training routes. Climbed to higher ground and scoped out all the flooded fields below. Decided to head back and ended with just 17 miles and 650' of climbing.

An easy cruise and still better than sitting on the trainer!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

63 degrees...in shorts and a short sleeve jersey! Brrrr! Wind a low 3 to 6 MPH. Very overcast sky with rain moving in shortly after I finished the ride.

A short, fast 16 miles with 575' of climbing. Legs were feeling good and the cool air had me moving fast to get warm and stay warm. A fun ride and a great workout.

It's getting dark noticeably earlier now and when the time change comes they rides are really going to be short and fast.

 

[ExplorerWhiz]

Completely agreed with your view on this.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

69 degrees and sunny with the wind a steady 9 MPH. We got a little more rain last night and the roads were still drying in the afternoon sun and breeze when I set off.

23 miles with only 725' of light climbing.

Just an easy recovery spin to shake the legs out. Another fun ride!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

A balmy 58 degrees with sunshine today and the wind at 5 to 10 MPH again.

34 miles with 1400' of climbing. Lots of high RPM work. Other that that and working it up two of the stiffer climbs it was just a good spin on an out & back course.

Warmer tomorrow!