WARM AND WINDY

107 kms | 3 h 49 m | avg speed 28.2 km/h | avg hr 152 bpm

 

Warm and sunny day with a solo ride. First half of the ride was against a strong head heady wind, perfect for strength training. The second half was tracing the way back and with the wind in the back it was very fun with +/- 40 kms/h with little effort. With a little bit more than a month for the Tour du ALS, I will use the shirt in all big rides until the race day. Maybe that will help with the fundraising. See after the link how the ride went.

Um dia de sol e quentinho para um treino sozinho. A primeira parte do treino foi contra um vento forte, perfeito para treino de força. A segunda parte foi de volta pelo mesmo caminho e com velocidade por volta dos 40 km/h com a ajuda do vento. Com um pouco mais de um mês para o Tour du ALS, eu vou usar a camisa do ALS em cada treino longo. Talvez isso ajude na arrecadação de fundos. Dá uma olhada como foi a volta.

Before leaving home I checked the direction of the wind as I wanted to cycle to Lekdijk but wanted it to be a constant ride with a heart rate between 155 and 165 bpm. That is my Zone 3, tempo riding zone. Luckily the wind was in the perfect direction but what I didn’t count was how strong it would be.

Right at the point I got into the dike, I got the wind straight into my face. My speed went straight down to 24 kmh and stayed around there for the next  hour and a half, when I got to Amerongen. And that keeping a heart rate of 160 to 165. It was hard work but I could sustain the effort and the legs start feeling supple again. I guess I losing the effects of the flu.

At some point I passed another cyclist that looked strong. He was just a little bit slower than me and staied on my wheel for a long time. More than 30 minutes I believe. It was good because it gave me pace as I didn’t want to let him pass me. When we were getting to Amerongen, he leveled with me and we chat a bit. I said I wasn’t expecting the wind to be that strong and he agreed. And complemented that a 65 years old with that wind was allowed to suck the wheel of a youngster like me. 65! Crap, I want to be like him when I grow up.

Very good training as it felt just like climbing a reasonably steep hill. Something like 6%. Actually I felt less difficult to climb the Amerongensebeg than to push on the climb. I’m climbing a bit better as well. On the hardest side I could keep around 18 km/h and my heart rate around 170. Very happy with that and a good sign for the preparations for climbing the Month Ventoux 3 times for the Tour du ALS on May 30.

From there I traced the same way back. And as I was expecting it was a blast. I kept the same level of effort and the speed went straight to 42 km/h. Right from the start I joined a fast group and it was fantastic to be with a team that knew what they were doing. They didn’t mind me being in the middle I started working with them with pushing and giving the warning signals for traffic.

We rode together for around 20 kms and separated when they turn right and I needed to stay on the dike. They formed some very nice echelons when we got cross winds and you could see how a experienced team can play tactics on a race with cross winds. If you are in the back, you can be pushed out of the road or back to the wind and struggle very easy.

Great ride.