Week's End

Tuesday on the levee

It has always seemed strange to me that the official start of the new week is on Sunday when, for most all practical purposes, it really starts on Monday. In tracking my training miles I always consider Monday through Sunday as the weekly total, especially since the bulk of the miles tend to come on the weekend. If the week starts on Sunday, why do we call Saturday and Sunday the "weekend?" But I digress.

Thursday on the levee

On Wednesday morning I was up early for the WeMoRi, but as I was getting ready, I guess around 5:20 or so, I thought I heard thunder. A quick check of the radar showed an approaching cool front and it was obvious that it would be raining within an hour or so. I was already dressed, so I figured I'd roll out anyway and maybe get in a few miles before the rain. It was optimistic. And doomed. Within three blocks from home it started to rain and I logged a whole 1.5 miles for the morning. Out at the lakefront a number of riders had actually ridden most or all of the ride. Yeah, the got wet. On the plus side, I was able to get out that evening for a quick spin on the levee, so the day wasn't a complete loss, riding-wise.

This weekend was another back-to-back Giro Ride weekend. I guess I'm feeling a little better each week, and the Giro has served as a good benchmark. By Saturday the drier air that had rolled in with Wednesday's cool front was already gone, leaving a mostly easterly wind for Saturday's ride. By the time we left Starbucks at 7 a.m. there was a pretty big group so I was prepared for a fast ride. Things were pretty steady on Hayne, but after we made the turn onto Paris Road and picked up a little tailwind a small group split off the front. The rest of the group didn't seem to feel much urgency about chasing, so the break rode off into the distance as the rest of the big group just motored at a pretty steady pace. On the way back down Chef the tailwind kept the speed high but it wasn't hard to sit in the paceline. As the pace ramped up for the Goodyear Sign sprint, though, someone opened up a big gap, I guess expecting that the front of the group would ease up after sprinting. It didn't. Not.at.all. I ended up with one or two others chasing the front half of the group but never making up any ground on it. It was still a good workout, though. A lot of riders ended up off the back in little groups of ones and twos, including Jaden who was on his gravel bike with 38 mm tires and I think a 45 tooth chainring which didn't provide quite enough gear for some of the sustained 30+ mph stretches. I got back home pretty hot and sweaty. Summer is here for sure.

Sunday's ride was easier, which was good because I was still pretty tired from Saturday's ride, not to mention the excessive amount of wine I'd had Saturday night when a couple of the neighbors came over. As sometimes happens when the speeds aren't super-fast, sitting near the tail end of the long paceline was a little stressful because the speed kept fluctuating. It was a constant cycle of tiny sprints to close gaps followed by coasting and bunching up again. It got pretty fast on the way back down Chef, with the speed touching 35 mph around the Goodyear sprint where Mike Williams almost plowed into the group from behind as everyone hit the brakes at the red light because a car was coming. I thought for sure he was going down as the rear wheel on his TT bike locked up and skidded sideways, but somehow he stayed upright. Anyway, I spent most of the ride at the back.

I'm still a little uncomfortable when I have to stand up and accelerate, but it's a bit better than it was last week, so that's something I guess. My biggest problem today was actually my neck, which was really hurting by the time we were halfway back. I rode all weekend on my race wheels. The way things have been going, I might not get to do another race this year at all, so I figured, why not? The forecast for next week is basically hot and dry with a very small chance of afternoon showers. There are some races being scheduled, but of course nothing is certain any more. One thing is certain, however. There are a lot of riders who are in good shape right now.

So I ended the week with about 250 miles, which is what I generally consider to be a solid week of riding. Last week was a little short at 212 because of the tropical storm weather. The week before that was 270 and the week before that was 250. That makes for a four-week total of just under 1,000 miles, so although I guess my power output is still lagging a little bit, at least I'm back on track mileage-wise. Speaking of mileage, I noticed the other day that my "lifetime" Strava mileage total is approaching 100,000 miles. I'll probably hit that around the end of July, I guess, since I'm at 99,071 now. I started using Strava in early 2012. I remember when I "rolled over" my Campi computer some years back, hitting 100,000 miles toward the end of a Giro Ride. At that point it started over at zero since I couldn't handle anything over 100,000. This year I'm behind my usual mileage by a couple of thousand because of the crash and resulting time off of the bike. I had a full month completely off the bike, and then another month of short rides on the trainer. It wasn't until May that I was consistently back on the road.