training-team ride

Hours Sleeping	6	Time of Day	8:00 AM
Body Weight		Body Fat
Distance	59 miles	Power
Time	Total – 4:00	Speed
Total Ascent	4911 ft	Max	Elevation – 1414 ft

Breakfast	6:00 AM – cereal 7:00 AM – banana
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	2 large bottles each w/3 scoops Endurox R4, PowerBar
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type	hills
Weather	mid 40s, constant drizzle
Course
Results
Equipment	Rain Bike
Clothing	Sugoi shoe covers, Roubaix knickers, Craft long sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, wind vest, Curve rain jacket, OR Gripper gloves, cap

Wet again. :(

In attendance today were Greg K, Dave H, Tim F, Steve O, Gabe T, Dean J and Lane S. Good to see so many teammates on such a shite day.

we headed directly to our first hill and as we approached the bottom I was leading with Lane and suggested we ride this one at a moderate pace to get into the swing of things. Not Gabe. He charged to the front muttering something about being fat and proceeded to up the tempo quite a bit. We let him go but suddenly Greg chased him down and the 'moderate' pace was shot to hell.

Lane bridged, I tried to stay with him and that was the formula for the rest of the day.

Lane gapped me climbing Cougar Mt Way and I could not close it by the top. I was breathing HARD and I was also hoping that this was not going to blow me up for the rest of the ride...

At the bottom Tim peeled off still feeling like he was not quite over his illness.

Our second hill was Squak and right away Lane and I separated ourselves from the rest of the group. This guys is damn strong and I was struggling to stay in contact after just half way up. Close to the top he gapped me again and it took a super-human effort (for me anyway) to bridge but I managed to join him only to be dropped about 100 feet from the summit again. Yikes. But I actually felt better this time and my legs were feeling strong, I was just not as fast as Lane.

We descended and went right back up Squak via an alternate route. Lane was pushing the pace again and for a little I felt like I was going to be strong and hang with him but then the ratcheting ensued and I slowly got tailed off on the steeper bits towards the top.

As I looked back Greg was closing in on me and I was totally maxed out. He caught me about 200 m from the top and I barely managed to crest the hill with him. We were trying to go hard over the summit instead of just racing to the summit so I dutifully shifted to the big ring and off we went as hard as we could. After a few seconds Greg passed me and we continued this way around the loop at the top of Squak. That was a good effort.

After this hill Dave elected to finish the ride close to home and somewhere around here Gabe went home as well.

Going up Lakemont I think everyone was mentally not quite so gung ho so immediately Lane and I were off the front. I managed to stick with him until we started up Cougar Mt Way and then he slowly eased away from me. He did turn his head once and tell me to, "Keep that rhythm Martin!" Thanks Lane. :)

Greg tried to close the gap to me again but this time I was able to maintain the distance between me and Lane and me and Greg. Turns out the rest only went to the saddle so we turned around and joined them.

By this time I was really wet and getting pretty cold. That first descent was very long and very fast and I think it took some of the zip out of all of us. I took my gloves off to wring them out and eat some food and then could hardly get them on again because of my stiff, non-functioning fingers. :(

I was careful all day long to keep sipping from my bottles and it paid off. Riding home my legs were crushed but I did not cave going across Mercer Island or I-90. Lane on the other hand took the lead on the floating bridge and positively drilled it all the way across. And then he set such a stiff tempo going up the rise that no one even entertained the thought of passing him. Impressive.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I was so cold I had my jacket on over my wind vest ever since the first climb? And Lane only had on a vest. Strong man he is. Everyone seemed to agree that it was slightly colder than last Saturday.

When I got home my back was very tired but it did not hurt and I did not feel crippled like after most long or hilly rides last year. That's a plus. I bet I pushed it as hard as I could without entering the back pain zone. I'm hoping that means my core is stronger as there was a LOT of pulling on the bars going on during those climbs.

Interesting to note that these hills are all about 1,000 ft in elevation gain, I did not know that. And I think mentally it was nice that we went all the way to the top of Cougar each time instead of just to the saddle as that little bit extra is not easy.

Four hours seems like a long time to ride 60 miles so perhaps Ideally there would have been a little less waiting around on this ride but shit happens and I would rather have the company any day. Plus these guys waited for me at the start while I was attending to a last minute flat so it's all good. Not a bad effort for an old, anemic guy.