So here I am on my first day off for a while. Continuing the theme of the last post, I have just completed another 'PB' of 500 km in a week. Now I know that for the pros and others, 500 is small beer but I can say for me it's an absolute yard glass! The day off is very welcome after the training load and also 41 degrees C yesterday (it was 35 when I finished riding at 10 am). I have also acquired a really painful saddle sore, so a day to get that under control will also be welcome! No more details are needed on THAT!
Yesterday was my first semi-competitive group ride since starting the program, so it was a good quasi-test of the effectiveness of the training. It is not a particularly strong group but in the past I rarely been able to do more than roll my turns in the last 10 km or so when it heats up and then be a part of the final sprint. When the group has lacked its stronger members I have been competitive for the win but mostly just making up the numbers when the better riders are there. From the beginning of the ride my legs were really feeling the cumulative effects of the last month's training and I was not hopeful of being able to be a player when the pace went up at the end. However, in last 10 km when it got busy I was comfortably able to be one of the three or four driving the bunch, particularly on the rises, and I won the final sprint by 10 or 15 m relatively easily. It was an interesting thing that although my legs felt pretty ordinary for the whole ride, and particularly when the pace went up, I was able to maintain power output without lactating up too much.
My coach is always on me about race craft and the need to be practising it in these sort of rides. Yesterday's group contained a guy who is a good sprinter and who always sits on for the whole return trip then tries to win the sprint - there's one in every bunch, isn't there? Anyway, with about 1500m to the line, I rolled off my turn and went back to fourth wheel, where he graciously left room for me in front of him (!!) and then I slowly let the gap open up to the rider in front, as if I couldn't maintain the speed. I heard him say"You OK?" and when the gap opened to just over a bike length, he came around me, as he clearly thought he was going to get gapped in the lead up to the sprint. He took another guy with him and then I closed the door on the others behind by pushing in to the single file. Mission accomplished as I now had the sit on him as a really good rider ramped up the pace in the lead out. With 300 m to go as the sprinter changed gears and looked to move out, I had already moved out sitting down and was accelerating slowly as he came out and I pick up his slipstream. As he accelerated and our speeds matched up I pushed hard to go past and then stood up and sprinted. It worked perfectly as I went past him going a lot quicker than he was and he had already pushed hard to increase speed. As the A Team's 'Hannibal' Smith would say - "I love it when a plan comes together"! The next test will be next Sunday, when the same sort of ride will be with the Hendry's Cycles group in Ocean Grove, the group that urban myths say Cadel used to ride with a bit when at home. The locals say it's true but I'm not sure anybody would put their hand up to say they were in the bunch that day!
After today's rest, it will be back to the capacity building. The next 6 or 8 weeks will be much the same but my volume will drop when we leave the beach an go back home to work. In the meantime though it is good endurance building without compromising the strength and power work. I am feeling more positive about the potential outcomes after yesterday, tiny test though it was.
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