When it's this nice out you sometimes need to take advantage. Today I chose to join some friends on Mercer Island for a hot lap before going to work. It was the right call.
I got out of the house with plenty of time to spare so just noodled across the lake. At first I felt like I was lagging big time but there was a wind blowing out of the east – it was still there when I rode back and the return trip was practically effortless.
On the lid I met Jim K and Charlie D, two friends and former teammates. Very nice. In short order Gentry M (another former teammate) and a really old friend I had not seen in ages along with several others arrived. It was going to be a great day.
We went counter-clockwise and thankfully the pace on the first hill was not severe as I was far from warmed up. By the tip I was feeling a little better so upped the temp just slightly with a longer pull and everyone behind me had to problem keeping up the pace when I pulled over.
As we approached the second 'hill' near the south end of the island the pace slowed so I went to the front and pulled into and up the hill. Charlie put in a nice dig here and passed me and kept right on going. I hopped on that train in about fourth spot and we promptly dropped a couple of riders. :(
A few more corners at high speed and there goes two more, it was down to about five of us now. Did I mention that I love this road on a dry day? I do! Being able to rail these corners is such a blast.
We could not always go fast though, today we encountered just about everything you can on the island. Not just cars and pedestrians but dogs and runners and other cyclists and even some guy on an electric wheelchair that was crossing the road at a less than ideal spot in terms of visibility... The only thing missing was an exotic animal.
That chair was close to the official (read: very unofficial) sprint by the tennis courts and it kinda slowed our momentum as we didn't want to plow into this guy. Undeterred I ramped it back up just as soon as he crossed the yellow line and Gentry was right there next to me. I had to go 100% but I think he beat me. I'm not sure as I have no idea where the finish line really was. :)
This ride was the first time in ages I have gone fast around the island. Mercer is such a staple for so many people and really, it's a very beautiful road – sometimes I forget that.
After shooting the shit for a bit four of us turned around and looped the island again. This time the pace was very social and we chatted all the way home. Fantastic.
| Sleep | 6 |
| Waking HR | |
| Body Weight | |
| Body Fat | |
| Breakfast | 4:30 AM – cereal |
| Lunch | |
| Dinner | |
| Workout Food | large bottle w/2 scoops HEED and one tablet of nuun |
| Injuries | |
| Therapy | |
| Time of Day | ride – 6:15 AM |
| Workout Type | threshold intervals |
| Weather | ride – mid 50s, dry, sunny commute – 70, dry, sunny |
| Course | |
| Distance | ride – 30 miles commute – 9 miles |
| Time | ride – 1:34 |
| Power | |
| Results | |
| Equipment | ride - Road Bike commute - Town Bike 39/53, 12-25 Neuvation wheels |
| Clothing | ride - knee warmers, bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, mid weight vest, arm warmers, Polypropylene gloves, cap |
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