Road Work
Boxers and fighters know all too well about road work. It is often tedious and lengthy. A couple weeks ago I had other commitments that kept me from riding for six days. I was just getting comfortable enough to start serious climbing. Upon getting back on my bike I did an early morning climb that is usually hard, but not to the point of frustration. This didn't go well and kind of got in my head. So..............hit the road.
This morning was my fifth morning of fairly hard, unrelenting riding on the road. As with any "road work", you can milk it, or make it as hard as you want. These rides where mostly all the same, a mix of quick hills, rollers, long flats, corner to corner sprints and so on. This morning I pushed it a little harder, took all the hills along the way and started without any nutrition. At 50 minutes I sucked on a single CLIFF Shot Block. At the turn around point (Cemetery Point), I didn't slow down nearly as much as I usually do (they post it to only 10 MPH) and gassed it out from the gate to retrace my route back home. At 95 minutes I put down another Shot Block and stayed in the harder gears back to Wolf Creek, up a quick 10% grade. The last four miles home are always a struggle, with a constant grade pushing back the entire way. Two little hills before the last tall grade make for an often brutal combination. Because I need to really make large scale improvements, I again chose to take an extra mile loop with an exceptionally hard "spoke-bending" hill right at the end. I was pretty wasted, having been on the bike, at rate, for three-hours non-stop. It put me right on the edge of the dreaded "bonk". A good finish for five sessions of road work. I'll give it a B- for the past week.
Saturday is the return to extended climbing. Not sure which way to go, but I'm kind of leaning toward Monte Cristo.
Peter Green sums it up nicely. Enjoy the classic riff and trail-off. "Oh Well"
Ride Hard..............................
