RIDING BETWEEN CLOUDS

 
154 kms | 6 h 04 m | avg speed 25.4 km/h | avg hr 137 bpm | 2.813 kcal

Today was a great training ride with the team that is going to participate on the Tour du ALS on May 28th. We were around 15 guys that went to South Limburg and rode a tough 154 kms thru lots of climbs and managed 1.748 vertical meters. And the best thing is that we avoided most of the rain that was slashing the area. As one of us said: riding between clouds and dodging rain.

Hoje foi um grande treino com o time que vai para o Tou du ALS no dia 28 de Maio. O time dessa vez teve 15 pessoas para uma volta no sul de Limburg para uma volta de 154 kms e através de várias ladeiras pesadas, com um total de 1.748 metros verticais. E o melhor foi que a gente escapou da maioria da chuva que estava caindo na região. Como disse um colega: treino entre as nuvens e fugindo da chuva.

We first rode 2 hours by car towards Valkenburg and met just outside the city. The day was not cold and at 9:00 it was already close to 10 degrees. The forecast yesterday was for cloudy with sun but it changed overnight and we were expecting rain. Lots of rain. The road was still very wet and as always I started very careful. I’m always afraid of falling in the first kilometers. Especially in the first descends.

We rode in the direction of the Eifel region, one of the most beautiful areas around. And before getting there we went thru a lot of small hills, everything among 1 and 6 kilometers. Some of them with 12 and 13% inclination. I tried to do every climb with my heart rate right at lactate threshold and it really went well. I managed to stay with the front group in all climbs without pushing too much. In the longest climb of the day, with 6 kms and inclination around 4 and 6%, I stick to the team and was almost being dropped but managed to keep up to the end of the climb without going to the red zone.

After we reached the 100 kms marc I started feeling really tired. I am running a flu and a throat infection. So, after the long distance I started fading quite quickly. I could still push in the climbs but I was felling very tired. I think the whole team was quite tired as the usual chatting almost stopped completely. We finished the 154 kms well and I pushed as much I could. Good result but I need to get over this flu…