Monday, May 3, 2010

race intensity

The weather radar looked apocalyptic on Sunday morning, so I skipped the CB race. But, the bad weather slid east of us, so I won't be getting my AMS approval any time soon.

I ended up doing a "race intensity" workout in the afternoon. My route for that these days is to head west on Sherman to Caves road, then take Caves down to Pekin, and head back to Bass Lake Road. There aren't any big hills on the route, but there are plenty of rollers.

The noteworthy thing about the ride is it actually was at race intensity. I was pretty satisfied by that effort. It seems like I'm through the early season muddling phase, and am now building up toward July and the Tour of the Valley.

Sherman Road seems like a pretty good way to evaluate my fitness. When I ride a race-like tempo, the little rollers push me into the red in rapid succession. In the early season, I'll blow up after only two or three of them. Once I get in shape, I can absorb the effort and keep the tempo going.

So, the next couple of months, I'll be cranking up the intensity a notch or two and also stretching the length of the rides a little bit. Also, I'm going to try a new tactic to burn some fat--doing early morning rides at recovery pace in addition to my normal routine.

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