Bike time 4:23
Total Time 6:52
Average Cadence 61
Average Speed 18.16
Max Speed 59.45
Average HR 146
Wow! What a truly spectacular ride. When I woke up my legs felt rested, skipping the hill climb for the wine tasting was clearly the best recovery plan ever!
I opted out of the morning run for some yoga. We geared up with only a high of 20 and an elevation gain of 4,500 ft knee warmers were the apparel of the day. Note to self don’t forget base layer or easy to pack light jacket. Into the rollers of the ride we rode past Neverland Ranch! I was still feeling great when we stopped at the base of the hill to strip down (I learned how to make the boys pull over for a break, just tell them you need to strip) I was still feeling great and know that if I took the hill at my own pace and enjoy the day I was going to have a great ride.
So the base starts with an 18% grade right off and eventually levels off before hitting a 20% grade. It was awesome and totally painful all in one. After one of our groups says to me on the 18% grade “oh your in the easiest gear already, I’m surprised I’m spinning so much faster then you” I decided to ramp it up and kick her little Kona behind. I found myself really enjoying the beautiful yet grulling hill. I was having a lot of fun, the fast boys were ahead and I knew I didn’t have a hope of catching them but I was looking forward to their surprise when I rounded the hill. The wildflowers were amazing and the view from the top was pretty spectatular. We stopped at a false summit to wait for everyone. For the record you’ll know you’re at the top when it says 500m to the top, 250m to the top, 100m to the top, Congrats you are at the top spray painted on the road. We bumped into IMC winner Chucky V around the top. Turned out Jamie and him battled it out one year at IMC, it’s a small planet. They were doing hill repeats and the sick part of me thought, hey that sounds like fun.
The backside of the mountain was far less splendent. Massive blow you off the bike wind, horrible twisty roads with rocks everywhere, I did not enjoy. We hit a nice downhill along Happy Canyon followed by an actual gravel road where I forgot Andrew’s golden rule “don’t panic” and hit the front break and bailed. Finally we finished on some pretty roads and the day was over.
Still feeling pretty fresh I decided to do a brick to the YMCA and a quick swim. Man alive my legs felt like lead. I hit the pool for some easy lengths 1500m in 30 min with the pool buoy. All in all a pretty spectacular day.
No comments:
Post a Comment