Ramp-up

[ornoth_cycling]

This being the last weekend before the 2008 Pan-Mass Challenge, yesterday I went out and rode with the folks from Quad, but extended the ride to a full century. I had tried getting to 100 miles twice in the past two weeks, but had been beaten back to 88 miles on both occasions by heat in excess of 95 degrees.

Saturday morning, I didn’t set out with the goal of covering a hundred miles, but for some reason things just came easily. Perhaps it was the fact that the temperature stayed in the mid-80s. Perhaps it was all the training I’ve done in the past two months finally coalescing. Or maybe it was the fact that I thoroughly cleaned and lubed the bike for the first time all year.

But whatever it was, I was in top form yesterday. Right from the start, it felt like I was going faster with much less effort than I have all year. Instead of being worn out and trailing the pack, I was keeping up with the fast guys, and had plenty in the tank left over. I didn’t hit the wall at 40-50 miles, as I had been all season, but kept going and didn’t see a drop off in power until mile 75. And even after doing a hundred miles, my average speed was still about 10 percent higher than I’ve done on shorter rides over the past month.

So I guess I’m peaking at the right time. At this time of year, the roads feel smoother, the air seems crisper, the ascents easier and the descents faster. The springtime obstacles of sand and Boston Marathon joggers are a distant memory, and even the drivers have gotten over their shock at having to share the road with cyclists again. Everyone’s paceline skills are solid, and, of course, one’s muscles are at top form, allowing you to cruise along pretty effortlessly.

Though I must say I’m not overtrained. This is the lowest mileage year I’ve had since I started keeping records back in 2000. I’m at about 1400 miles, when usually I’m in the 2000-3000 mile range. However, since I was out of the country for five months, those miles I have done all came in my May-to-July training period, which isn’t too far from the effort I would put in during a normal year.

So maybe I could be a little better prepared, but yesterday it hardly felt that way. It’s a great time to be on the bike, and as long as the weather holds out, this promises to be another good Pan-Mass ride.

We’ll see, ’cos in a week’s time, it’ll be just another memory. But fortunately, the fitness and easy strength I’ve built up will linger throughout the next couple months, into the relaxing, easy, scenic rides of autumn.

But first I’ve got this little ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown…

Comments

[awfief.livejournal.com]

I wonder how much philosophy plays into this. I'm always amazed at how quickly you finish your days, even though you're not super-competitive. At some point, the ride is a challenge for yourself, the cause is the reason, and even if you don't ride 1 mile next weekend you have still done good.

It's also familiar, a habit, routine. Something to work up to, sure, like some folks work up to Christmas every year. At some point you are subconsciously mentally preparing for it. Particularly this year, since you worried about it so much (or at least your worries were more public) -- this year the worry is "will I be ready?" The past 2 years your worries seemed to be "will I crash?" which is valid given your experiences, but also shapes what you prepared for mentally.

Not, of course, that your body can condition itself just by thinking about it. But when you trained this year, instead of subconsciously (or consciously!) thinking "the goal is not to crash" you've been thinking "the goal is to complete the ride as in previous years" and thus that's where you're at.

Only time will tell. And as someone who didn't finish *any* of the three days of the AIDS ride (the first due to comraderie with a fellow cyclist whose knees gave out, figuring "I have 2 more days"; the second due to riding 95 miles, having 5 more to go and being stopped for time reasons, and the third due to sheer tiredness) -- I'm proud of you, whether you ride or not.