training-ride

Hours Sleeping		Body Weight		Body Fat
Pulse (waking)		Pulse (rising)		Difference
Time of Day		Distance	52 miles	Power
Time (total)	3:30	Time (moving)		Time (stopped)
Speed (overall)		Speed (moving)		Speed (max)
Total Ascent		Max Elevation		Gradient

Breakfast	5:30 AM – cereal
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	2 large bottles each w/3 scoops Sustained Energy
Injuries	right knee/IT band
Therapy
Workout Type	tempo (meaning faster than endurance but no intervals) ride
Weather	upper 40s to 50, light rain most of the time, calm
Course
Results
Equipment	Rain Bike
Clothing	Sugoi shoe covers, knee warmers, bib shorts, Craft long sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, OR Gripper gloves, cap, Bellwether rain coat

I love company when I'm training! Pure and simple. I would not do half of what I do if I had to go it alone – no way.

This morning it was all about sneaking in some TITS (time in the saddle) before heading down to FareStart where I had to be at 10:30. Yikes! I was joined by Dean J, RC R, Jennifer W and Greg K and between Jennifer's training regime (today was all about keeping the cadence between 55-60) and Greg's time constraint it was blazing fast so no problem.

We got off to a great start when RC's rear fender broke. Thank goodness someone had a zip-tie and so we were moving pretty quick. Not two minutes later I got a flat on the I-90 bridge. :( Luckily I got rolling pronto and nothing else happened for a while.

Jennifer's training program dictated a cadence of 55-60 today and so she was constantly motoring along. Of course it is possible to ride slowly at this cadence but not today... Every hill was hard and then on the flats Greg would dial it up so our speed kept increasing by small increments. By the time we hit May Valley proper we were doing 25 mph. By the end of May Valley we were going faster. Yikes. I was feeling under duress for sure.

ASIDE – I'm not sure I have ever ridden along May Valley in the dark when it's raining. I felt like I was in some extended (as in really long) haunted house with all the leaves on the ground and the mist in the air and our lights reflecting off of the moisture; quite surreal.

As we turned left onto Issaquah-Hobart the pace ramped up again and suddenly we're doing about 28 mph. Ouch. Thank goodness for the red light in Issaquah or this might have continued.

As we rolled out of town and headed up Newport Jennifer was in front, then came RC and behind him were Greg and Dean. For some reason I had chosen to ride next to RC when all of a sudden his bike simply slid out from under him. It was as if his wheels had been yanked sideways. It was like slow motion; I watched helplessly as RC folded and slid behind me and then as Greg and Dean plowed into him.

By the time I slowed to a stop and turned around everyone was on their feet but both RC and Dean had some scrapes and mechanical issues. For the most part RC's bike was okay and we just had to adjust his front fender and brake. Dean's bike on the other hand needed more attention. His rear derailleur cable had snapped clean in half. I'm not sure I have ever witnessed that before when it was not already frayed (he had just replaced it yesterday!). We pulled the housing off of the cable, wound up the slack and then used the limit screw to position the derailleur under his 17-tooth cog. This way he at least had two gears with the 39/53 in front.

Those guys did a great job of finishing up the ride.

Once on Mercer Jennifer and I did a lap of the island because I had the time and everyone else rode home to nurse their wounds or make their appointments.

With all of our stops and being careful of the slippery surface we made excellent time! That really pushed me, especially since I was on my rain bike. Glad I made it to the end and glad I made it to the end in one piece too.