Saturday

Familiar Terrain



With Niko home for spring break and Portland’s typically crappy springtime weather and my wimpiness in the face of it, it’s been all trainer recently (all year, really). But as I’ve said before, thanks to the Computrainer this is OK and, indeed, I'm confident I'm in better biking shape than ever at this point in the season. The big difference between the Computrainer and a mere trainer is in using the machine to motivate me to put in good work. There have been very few empty hours on the trainer for me this year. Today, I drafted off Robo Rider for the first couple of miles, then busted ahead of him and went at the course at a steady 80 RPM and 200+ watts. For the last 10 of the 30 miles, I cranked it up, staying around 240 watts and higher. I stayed focused on spinning smooth, powerful, fast circles. I was intent on finishing a mile ahead of Robo Rider. My legs were very tired toward the end, and there was a big pool of sweat on the mat beneath me, but I had indeed humiliated RR. That was a well-spent 90 minutes. (And no, you are not invited to critique my position. This isn’t Slowtwitch!)

2 comments:

  1. Well, if it was Slowtwitch I would be looking for marks on the wall and/or mismatched carpet.

    Your wattage is amazing. I would think that depending on your weight, if you are able to average 200 watts or so at IM CDA, you should be averaging around or north of 20 mph - truly impressive.

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  2. I'll take 19 mph, Al -- which would be a big jump from last year's 18.1 mph at CDA. If I get my weight down where I want it to be (165 vs. the current 173) and get in the five 100+ rides I'm vowing to do in April/May (vs. just one last year), it could happen!

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