It was back to the bike this weekend. I had done sprintervals with Flandria on Tuesday and an endurance ride on Thursday, but not much else during the week.
Saturday we set out to climb Montebello. But, it seemed hot on the exposed section when we got up there, so we bailed out after Pachetti Winery and settled for an easier Mt. Eden loop. We stopped at Starbuck's in Cupertino on the way home. I was not highly motivated.
Saturday night, we went to our friend Erika's house for her almost-annual, almost-solstice BBQ. I managed to steer clear of the alcoholic beverages. I only had one cookie and the rest was all fruits and veggies and hummus and grilled fish and meats in small quantities - this all being part of my plan to slim down a bit during my off period from racing. Unfortunately due to the opening of the Albany crit 35+ to W1,2,3,4 (don't want to re-live the Santa Rosa corporate crit); I will be racing a week earlier than anticipated. So, I will need to stop starving myself next weekend so I am well fed for Lafayette on the 15th. I have managed to lose 3 of the 6 pounds I'd gained since the season started. Yay!
Sunday, we met up with Erika and her friend Steve for a 'leisurely' climb up Highway 9 and then we were going to decide what to do after that. As long as we were in the flats and slight grades, I was able to set a comfortable, but brisk pace for the group. I was even the lead climber through the first 3 or so miles of Highway 9 (to a little above the junction with Pierce). But, then Steve took over at a pace I could not maintain when the road kicked up to a more steady grade. He's a skinny little mofo. Probably 6'3" and less than 150. Erika followed. She's a svelte 130ish. So, I continued at my own pace which had me blowing from threshold to just above threshold for 45 minutes. I finally cracked about 3/4 mile below the top. I had to stop and take it back down to aerobic, which meant riding about 3.5 miles per hour the last 3/4 mile. Ugh! We had a few minutes to recover at the top. I realized my caloric defecit was killing me and shoved a whole Clif bar in my mouth. We decided to continue to Page Mill.
I started in the lead up the first grade with Rick on my heels. We gapped the other two on the first blistering descent. Then, we were still in the lead up the next grade and descent. Then, Steve came up and attacked. I got on his wheel. Then, Rick countered, and I got on Rick's wheel. Then, they both had me gapped by the top of that hill. On the next slight downhill, I maxed my HR sprinting to over 40 mph to pass both of them. Unfortunately, we were faced with yet another hill. I thought that was the last one. Dangit! The two boys left me in the dust on that last climb. Erika came up behind me just as we were about to reach Page Mill. We took a breather (thank goodness). Erika decided to continue north to 84 to descend. They boys and I decided to bee-line down Page Mill and Altamont for the Los Altos Rancho to refuel. I was HUNGRY!
I had a nice sandwich with turkey breast and veggies - no mayo or cheese. That pretty much took the edge off, but I was still hungry when we got home.
It seems I may have improved my anaerobic capacity with all those hikes in the mountains, but maybe lost some power. So, I will be working on the high end power the next couple weeks. Should be fun!
5 comments:
Them attacks/counter-attacks on Skyline were fun. Sorry we blew you out on the last couple miles there. Truth be told, I was gassed for the last 1/4 mile, and was trying to get Steve to pass me so I could suck his wheel, but he was not biting so I had to drag both our sorry butts to the junction. Course he has the 2-15 advantage on me: 15 years younger, 15+ pounds lighter.
Course, I thought you had agreed on payback by launching an attack on Steve on the bottom half of Altamont so I was holding back. When you did not go, and the junction with Moody was getting closer, I launched my little attack and raced Steve to that junction :-)
Next weekend, short hill intervals!
Those sound like some fantastic rides. I bet it feels good to be back on the bike. Soon enough the boys will be sucking your wheel up the climbs. Keep up the hard work!
thanks, chris! I hope so.
c-rick, I didn't realize I was supposed to attack on the descent of Altamont. It would have been easy, but I was trying to be polite!
Albany is a really fun course, so is Lafayette. Short, so a break can get off and lap the field...and the hills aren't that bad at all if you don't let them psych you out.
panda - yes, I've heard both courses are good. I'm just trying to stick to w4 or w3/4 races for a while until I can get my bearings more. The last open race I did wasn't too fun.
So, Lafayette wins over Albany. Of course, if I have a great race at Lafayette, I reserve the right to show up in Albany, too!
Post a Comment