Here were are at the end of February — which to me means I have less than 4 months of training time left! YIKES! Actually, although you can always do better, I think my training is about where I expected it to be for this point in my training. I’ve been very consistent with my Tues/Thurs/weekend rides at the velodrome and I can feel myself improving (two weeks ago I set a new Personal Best max speed of 32.6 mph!).  I struggled during the last half of the month to balance riding with other demands for my time. The weather this past month didn’t help either — very, very cold, bad roads and snow on the ground (and/or falling!) most of the month. Ionly managed one ride outside and that was yesterday!

My February totals were 42 miles on Scooter and 260 miles on my Fuji track bike (who still needs a name). I anticipate this number increasing closer to 350-400 miles in March, weather permitting. I plan to spend less time indoors cross training and more time outside riding. One idea that I’ve been kicking around recently after reading some literature on long distance training, is to rearrange my work schedule somehow to allow me to take a longer ride on Wednesdays than I had originally planned. The thought is that having a longer Wednesday rides and another one on the weekend give more recovery time between these efforts than back-to-back Saturday/Sunday rides would. I think it is worth a try.  March starts tomorrow and there is winter weather in the forecast, so I might not get to try it THIS Wednesday.

Yesterday’s ride was cool and breezy, but very pleasant overall. I had planned to go north, but as I started out the driveway I could tell there was clearly a wind out of the south. So, to maximize my training effort and give myself the potential for a homeward bound tailwind,  I headed south into the headwind! I rode alone. Well, that’s not quite true. There were LOTS of cyclists out and many in packs of 15-20 riders. I did ride by myself but was in sight of at least a couple riders at all times. My route took me south to CO 66, then west towards Lyons. Instead of heading into town (which was my original plan), I turned onto CO 36 and went up the hill and over the dale to Nelson Road. The climb up the hill is about 500-600 ft and at times the grade hovers around 7%. I felt strong up the climb and even though I pushed the pace, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that my heartrate was not soar ing with the eagles.  I flew down Nelson road, giving back all of the elevation I had gained, and then some. As I neared the intersection of Niwot Rd and Nelson road my odometer was closing in on 20 miles — which just happened to be exactly half of what I had set out to ride.  It took mere seconds for me to realize that if I just turned around at intersection and retraced my route that I would have my 40 mile ride without having to plot and scheme on the way back. So, that’s exactly what I did. At the bottom of the hill, I turned around and immediately climbed back up to CO 36. This climb has caused me to labor in the past, but yesterday, I rode it strong and steady and at a moderate heartrate. My only concern was that I was running out of Shot Blocks. I thought I had put a couple extra packets in my back shirt pocket, but apparently they were left sitting on the counter. I had one 6-block packet that took me just past the turn-around point. Luckily, I did have a second water bottle with Cytomax Energy drink in it. Turns out, that was all I needed. I made it home with energy to spare. I was happy with the ride. It is the longest outdoor ride I’ve done in about 6 weeks (and before that ride it was probably another 6-8 weeks  back!). This ride represented the beginning of my Spring Training rides. I cannot afford to go even 2-3 weeks without several long rides if I am to stay on track — even if the weather is cool and nasty!!

Todays Stats: (From the Garmin, ODO from my Vetta bike computer)
Distance:  41.4mi
Ride Time: 2:45.15
Ave Speed: 15.1 mph
Max Speed: 32.2 mph
Elevation Gain: 2280
Elevation Loss: 2280
Est. Calories: 2103
Ave HR : 118 bpm
Max HR: 144 bpm

Z1 (< 103): 7:15  for  2.5 miles    (can you say — coasting “Downhill!”)
Z2 (< 120): 1:02:00  for 18.1miles
Z3 (<137): 1:29:50  for 20.3 miles
Z4(<154): 6:45  for 1.0 miles
Z5(<171): 0