Training Log, February 21, 2010

Submitted by adammyerson on Sun, 02/21/2010 - 20:39
It's possible I got home with 5:55 on the clock, and did a couple laps around the neighborhood until it said 6:00. But I would never admit to that.
 
Today we rode out to Kitt Peak. I need to make sure I get all the "monuments" done while I'm here. Lemmon's easy (though I haven't ridden to the top yet), I got Madera in the first week, and we got Sonoita done a few days ago. Today we were looking for a long day, the wind was right, and we had a nice group. So Kitt Peak it was.
 
The drag about the Kitt Peak ride is that it takes about 2 hours of false flat climbing on one road, Ajo Highway, to get out there. You hit the base after 45 miles, which took us about 2.5 hours to get out there, with 10 guys riding 2 abreast.
 
The road to the top of the mountain is about 12 miles, and there's the National Astronomy Observatory at the top. It's probably the best climb in the area training-wise, because it's an almost perfectly steady pitch from bottom to top, and you can do it in about an hour at tempo. It's also breathtakingly beautiful:
 
 
That little tiny dot at the top of the mountain is the observatory. For about an hour as you approach the mountain you're "almost there." 
 
 
It was a little hard to take iPhone shots while I was riding uphill at 250 watts, but anything for my readers.
 
 
These are just pics of the valley and the road twists and turns along the edges of the mountain.
 
 
And then finally, at around 6500 feet or so, you start to be able to see the top again.
 
 
As expected, even though we talked about just riding tempo, the crew hit out a little harder than I planned to, and I let everyone go within the first mile. I also stopped briefly to fiddle with my bike, but all in all, I was happy to climb on my own. Just me, my pain, Doomriders on the iPod, and the little yellow box on my handlebars.
 
I paused with about a mile to go to take a few shots, and met up with the guys starting to come down. But here are the numbers:
 
 Kitt Peak:
Duration:   1:00:50
Work:       900 kJ
TSS:       64 (intensity factor 0.794)
Norm Power: 250
VI:         1.01
Pw:HR:       6.94%
Pa:HR:       13.96%
Distance:   9.985 mi
Min Max Avg
Power:       0 642 247 watts
Heart Rate:   108 170 152 bpm
Cadence:     48 107 73 rpm
Speed:       2.2 17.9 9.8 mph
Pace         3:21 26:49 6:06 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 818 289 lb-in
 
Pretty pleased with that, considering all the work I did this week.
 
And oh my god, the descent from Kitt Peak? It's amazing. I was the last one to head down, but the first one to the bottom, and I only had a 46 x 11. It's the kind of descent where if you blow a turn, you can go off a cliff and never be seen or heard from again. But if you do it right and trust yourself, you also never need to touch your brakes. I scared myself a few times, but I also let out a couple of Ric Flair style whoops a la Jacob Fetty. I dunno what's gotten into me in the past year, but all of a sudden I have fun riding and racing my bike.
 
The ride back in takes about 30 minutes less than the ride out, and of course includes the obligatory store stop in the middle of absolutely nowhere:
 
 
Before this trip is over, I promise you, I WILL be getting a Sparks at one of my lunch breaks.
 
We rolled it nice on the way in, with 5-10 minute pulls at tempo. And then one of the boys got frisky as we approached the Tucson city limits:
 
Town line:
Duration:   2:52
Work:       51 kJ
TSS:       n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI:         n/a
Pw:HR:       8.68%
Pa:HR:       1.16%
Distance:   1.711 mi
Min Max Avg
Power:       0 1262 298 watts
Heart Rate:   147 178 163 bpm
Cadence:     60 150 105 rpm
Speed:       28.6 41.3 35.8 mph
Pace         1:27 2:06 1:41 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 1111 234 lb-in
 
Sprint:
Duration:   0:16
Work:       13 kJ
TSS:       n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI:         n/a
Pw:HR:       18.77%
Pa:HR:       -9.82%
Distance:   866 ft
Min Max Avg
Power:       325 1262 865 watts
Heart Rate:   148 170 157 bpm
Cadence:     85 125 111 rpm
Speed:       29.8 41.3 37.1 mph
Pace         1:27 2:01 1:37 min/mi
Crank Torque: 251 1111 664 lb-in
 
If you look closely, you'll see that I was making over 1200 watts at 41 mph on dowhill sprint in the 46 x 11. And I did it one-handed while flipping off Thom Coupe as I came around him. Whassup, Thom?
 
The data for the day was pretty good, but surprisingly short. I don't remember ever doing Kitt Peak in only 5.5 hours from campus, even with a bigger group than this. I had 5:55 when I got back to the house, and I couldn't bear to go in without a 6 on my screen.
 
Here are the totals for the day, followed by the totals for the week. Only one more week in Tucson to go!
 
Enjoy.
 
Entire workout (155 watts):
Duration:   6:08:26
Work:       3426 kJ
TSS:       233.4 (intensity factor 0.617)
Norm Power: 194
VI:         1.25
Pw:HR:       14.54%
Pa:HR:       -18.72%
Distance:   114.053 mi
Min Max Avg
Power:       0 1262 155 watts
Heart Rate:   60 180 128 bpm
Cadence:     30 225 84 rpm
Speed:       2.2 45.5 18.9 mph
Pace         1:19 26:49 3:11 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 1111 157 lb-in
 
2/21/2010
Duration: 33:52
Distance: 600.58
TSS: 1332
kJs: 18849
CTL: 103
ATL: 185
TSB: -82

 

Comments

Submitted by jerry on Mon, 02/22/2010 - 18:04.
Pictures are good. Blogging is worthless without pictures. Watts, I can take em or leave em. " And I did it one-handed while flipping off Thom Coupe as I came around him. " This begs the question, were you also riding a one handed wheelie while doing the flipping? Cause that would be cool, and worthy of a picture. I also like how the coach in the group sticks to the workout and the young guns take off and ride harder...hmmm...plan the work and work the plan, eh? We will just see how they do in a month after skipping those crucial 20 minutes in the tempo zone. They will be regretting it as you come sprinting by, one handed, riding a wheelie, flipping them the g'damn bird! WASSSUUUPP!!!
Submitted by adammyerson on Mon, 02/22/2010 - 20:08.

Ha. Oh Jerry.

Go easy on the kids. They just go up hill faster than I do. They were probably going a little harder than they should have, but most of them finished their work. And I'm also not their coach!