It was just me and Mark on the ride this morning - I really miss Jose these days but Mark is a good companion and someone that is able to push me beyond my max when he wants to ride hard. He is a much better rider than I am - especially on the long climbs. But I have more of a killer instinct that helps to even things out sometimes. Today we did our climbing intervals.
The first hill on the day was La Paloma. I took off and got my heart rate up to 85% pretty quickly. I could also see by my shadow in front of me that I was starting to gap Mark. As we turned the last bend and looked up at the steepest part of the climb I notched it up 1 or 2 gears, stood up and took off. As we got about 1/2 way up the hill I could see my shadow getting smaller and more in-focus in front of me which meant that Mark was coming up on my back wheel but I figured I'd wait it out and see if he could pull up beside me. Sure enough, by the time we were 3/4 of the way up the hill, I could see Mark's front tire out of the corner of my left eye. I knew it was crunch time - that's what these mornings are all about isn't it? I pshed as hard on the pedals as I could and was able to hold him off until the top of the hill but I sure wasn't pulling away and couldn't have gone much further without exploding. One hill down 5 more to go. I've got to get myself settled down; my HR is through the roof and I can't breath fast enough to satisfy my body.
We wound our way down Purissima and finally make the left hand turn onto Elaine - here we go again - only this one is longer. I got into a comfortable climbing rhythm and just kept turning the pedals over steadily. Again, I started to gap Mark. I kept moving forward and backward on my seat to rest different muscles in my legs and then About 1/2 way up the climb I notched it up a gear and stood up. Make it feel like you are climbing the stairs is what the good says - I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable climbing while standing. 12 months ago this would have been agony. As we neared the last turn before Natoma, I sat back down and start to rest a bit - I know what they say about pedaling over the top but Mark was far enough back that he wasn't going to catch me and I was breathing super hard. Time to give it a rest. Finally, I make the turn onto Natoma - 2 hills down 4 to go.
I slowed for Mark to catch back on and we rode along quietly until we got to Black Mtn. Here we go again. Several stair steps take you up to the top but don't be deceived by the seemingly flat sections - they are still gradual uphills and will take you apart. On the last step up I geared up and stood to climb. I finished this section with a hard push over the last hump but I am having to dig down hard to squeeze out the last drop. Hill 3 down, 3 to go.
Mark is not far behind me as we turn onto Altamont. We cruized along until we hit the downhill section. I was really careful here since it was wet from last night rain and there is one off-camber turn to the left on this road. But, once we got by that OK, Mark and I both tucked and got up to a speed of 45 mph coming down towards Moody! We made the jog onto Tepa - I conside this to be the worst climb of them all because it starts out super steep (39/27/hard) for about 100 yards and then just flattens into a more than gradual climb. You have to recover from the first pitch while you are still going up hill - that's a tough thing to do. The hill winds on for a while with some steeper parts and a flatter (but still uphill) section right before the last climb. I stayed on Mark's back wheel the whole way up until we made the last left hand turn to the final climb. At that point I notched it down a couple of gears and accelerated around the outside of him to the top. Again, I'm at 95% of MHR and breathing like a horse. Hill 4 down 2 to go.
Mark and I pedaled across Summerhill with it rollers, up the short chute on Magdalena, left on Eastbrook and got ready for the next (big) climb. As we made the turn onto W. Loyola, Mark was in front and the pace dropped pretty quickly. He pointed out a huge brown house on the left that looked like a figgin' hotel. As we did the right hairpin, I pulled into the lead, got into my comfortable climbing position and took off. W. Loyola is a long climb but I handled it all pretty we and as we came around the corner to the final section I popped it into lower gears, stood up and took off again - just like I've been doing all day. There is nothing left in the tank when I reach the top but I feel like I've really pushed myself today. 5 hills down only 1 more to go.
Mark and I wound our way around to Magdalena and made the left hand turn to start the last climb. This is the longest but is not as steep in sections as a couple of the others. The only thing you have to do is be aware that when you reach the first summit on Magdalena, don't start partying too hard because there is one more climbing section that follow immediatly. Mark and I went back an forth the whole time - the pace was quick. When we got to the false summit, I surged ahead and though for sure I would take all 6 climbs today. I got out of the saddle and push up the last section but just as I was nearing the top, Mark came pedaling by me (sitting down) like he was just out for a joy ride. He makes it look so easy sometimes 
. The good news is that we are down!
We limped on back to Peets for our usual morning coffee. This is as much a part of the ride as anything - we have some great conversations while we cool off and rest.
Final Stats for the ride:
- 25 miles
- Ave speed 15 mph
- Max speed 44 mph
- Ave HR 136 bpm
- Max HR 181 bpm
- Time in Zones
- Light Intensity - 1%
- Fat Burn - 37%
- Aerobic - 42%
- Max Aerobic - 19%
- Anaerobic - 1%
No comments:
Post a Comment