EIFEL

105 kms | 4 h 15 m | avg speed 24.4 km/h | avg hr 141 bpm | 2.111 kcal

The training today was the team ride from Nike in the Eifel region of Germany with a total of 9 big climbs. The region is very picturesque and full of longish climbs. A great training for the L’Etape du Tour happening a month from now. The ride was good despite of the bad weather.

O treino de hoje foi uma volta com o time da Nike na região de Eifel da Alemanha, com um total de 9 subidas fortes. A região é bem pituresca e cheia de subidas. Um bom treino para a L’Etape du Tour que vai acontecer em um mês. O treino foi bom apesar do clima chuvoso.

The day started very early, waking up at 5:15 am and driving for two hours to get to the outside of Aachen, in Germany.  I went with Peter and Tom and there we met the rest of the team, which was around 20 people. A good mix of veterans and first years, but also a good mix of riding ability and performance.

Because I haven’t train properly in the last two weeks due to a week business trip to US and a second one curing the jetlag, I was nervous about how I would perform. All I managed to do in those two weeks was to get an interval session in the first week and a small ride and a interval on the second week. I was afraid of not being enough to stay with the fast guys.

We started riding at 9:00 am. But not before I had a bit of stress. I took my bike out of the car and just by accident I looked into the back tire. I saw a green think incrusted on the tire and though it was either a stone or a piece of glass. I tried to removed but it didn’t come out. So, I deflated the tire to make it easier and the thing disappear. It was the actual inner tube protruding out of the tire thru a cut! F**ck!!! I have latex green inner tubes which made it visible compared with black normal ones.

Luckily Peter had a couple of spare tires in the car and he was very kind to let me borrow one. I had to change the tire very quick and that was a bit of a stress. But I managed just in time for the start of the ride.

THE RIDE | We started rolling and apparently I didn’t pay attention to the instructions. Usually we start together and then split into two groups based on performance or how people feel. This time someone decided to split from the beginning. I went with the first group and didn’t realized that. But at the top of the first climb Peter and I (who didn’t get the message either) decided to wait for the slower group.

I felt I could keep climbing with the fast guys no problem. But I was not sure I could sustain the effort during the whole day. Two weeks of no training sucks the endurance out of one. And also the team looked very strong and eager. So, second group for me so I could push as hard I wanted on the climbs, relax on the flat pieces and enjoy the descends.

It worked perfect. In every climb I brought my heart rate to around 171 bpm and finished all of them first. I felt good and could keep up a good cadence, with speeds of 20 kms/h on the 4% pieces and 15/16 km/h on the 6 to 7%. Only when it went above 8% I went down to 10 km/h. Great result and I’m very happy with it! We went thru 9 big climbs most of them around 3 to 4 kms with one big one of 7 kms.

The day went quite fast and the team kept a good spirit, despite of a couple of showers and the cloudy dark day. It was so rainy that I didn’t even took pictures with the phone. Right at the end both groups met again and everybody climbed the toughest part of the day. A 1 km road that goes most of the time around 14%. In that one I pushed the heart to above lactate threshold and finished well. Good feeling in the legs…

A great day on the bike. To be better the roads could be a bit drier so I could enjoy the descends better! Maybe next time.