Race at the Lakes - Round 3b

I don’t get many opportunities to ride outside. I can get all the early morning rides on the trainer that I want, but in all honesty getting up at 5:00 a.m. to get an hours workout in before going to work is getting old, especially now that the weather’s getting so nice outside. I would say that on average, I only ride about 6 hours a week. On a good week, I might see 8 hours. I don't think, with the exception of the Boone, North Carolina trips that I ever have any weeks that have more volume in it than that so needless to say, I jump on any opportunity I might have to ride. With the lousy weather we had yesterday, today seemed like an absolute dream and I started thinking during the middle of mass this morning on which of my favorite routes I would be doing this afternoon. As I was getting my things ready to go, I looked outside, saw my son Nicholas playing and decided that I’d rather spend some time with him on the bike, rather than training down in the Valley. He had been asking for a few weeks about riding with me out at the RATL course and I figured today was as good as any day to do that. It’s so close and I figured after a few laps, we’d be done and I’d still have time for a quick workout.

I’ll be honest, this might be the best way to race out there. Nicholas and I grabbed some chalk, made a quick start line and we were off, me riding the Cervelo and he on his slightly undersized Specialized. I keep meaning to give Sherman up at Bike Authority a call to see what we can do about getting him something more his size and this might just be the nice reminder that I need to do just that. Each lap around the course had plenty of breaks, either to look at the water, pick up Dandelions, play on the playground equipment or just to grab a drink of Gatorade. I’d even say that this was by far the best time I’ve ever spent out there on this course. I don’t think I’ve ever had an opportunity to really see the beauty that this park has to offer, especially when accompanied by a 5 year old. It’s nice to slow down every once in a while. Oh, by the way, just like all the previous races I’ve done out there, I didn’t win this one either and I didn't get any more training in afterwards. Guess I'll be getting up really early tomorrow.

b

Here’s the data for today’s race:

Entire workout (38 watts):
Duration: 55:50 (1:54:33)
Work: 122 kJ
TSS: 4.9 (intensity factor 0.234)
Norm Power: 66
VI: 1.73
Distance: 5.891 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 240 38 watts
Cadence: 29 141 56 rpm
Speed: 2.2 15.1 6.5 mph
Pace 3:58 26:49 9:15 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 304 45 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 378 60 lb-in