GIVING UP… OR MAYBE NOT

184 KMS | 7 H 32 | 24.5 KMS/H | 144 AVG HR | 3.757 KCAL

This weekend was time for Limburgse Mooiste. The longest and better organized cycling sportive event from Holland. It was 184 kms in the steep hills of Limburg done in 8 hours and 39 minutes running time and 7:32 riding time. That shows a bit what happened: I bonked big time and had to wait for a long time seated to regain energy to continue. A very hard ride which again is showing my training is going in the wrong way this year. At least I didn’t have cramps… The most difficult part of the day was deciding if giving up or not. With 30 kms to go I wanted to give up. But that was not an option and finished the ride anyway. But it was mentally difficult to keep doubting for 10 kms if I should quit or not. Happy I didn’t. See the whole race after the link with some more pictures

Neste fim de semana o treino foi o Limburgse Mooiste, o evento mais bem organizado da Holanda, com 184 kms nas ladeiras íngremes de Limburg. Eu fiz em 8 horas e 39 minutes de tempo corrido e 7 horas e 32 minutos de tempo pedalando. Dá uma amostra do que foi o dia: difícil e que eu perdi todas as energias ainda faltando 40 quilômetros para o final. Um dia muito pesado que está me mostrando como o meu treino está errado e o que eu tenho que melhorar. A única coisa boa foi não ter câimbras… A parte mais difícil do dia foi decidir se eu desistia ou não. Com 30 kms para a chegada eu queria desistir. Mas não tinha opção e acabei terminando a prova. Mas a indecisão por 10 kms foi muito difícil mentalmente se continuar ou não. Mas feliz por não ter desistido. Dá uma olhada como foi depois do link e mais algumas fotos.

The team at the start of the day in Heerlen.

Different from the previous years, this time I rented a house close to the start/finish and could sleep later than the usual 3:30 in the morning. Wake up was at 5:30 and Ron, Sander, Toby, Martin and I went to the start. In there met Silvia and Marc and we started riding at 6:44 as I forgot my water bottles and needed to buy new ones. The start was from the city center of Heerlen and it was a slow one and the weather was fresh but not cold. Great to start the day.

At around 9 kilometers into the ride we did a wrong turn and added another 5 kms for the distance. That was an alert for the rest of  day: the signage wasn’t best and we need to keep an very good eye on it not to get lost. We started together but quickly I started going with Marc, that is clearly the stronger from our group. I wanted to stay as long as I could around him. In that way we went together until the second feed station, around 70 kms into the ride when I decided to wait for the rest of the guys and ride on a lower pace. I could keep a good speed but was starting to feel fatigue setting in.

Second feed station where I decided to slowdown. But it was too late already.

From the second feed station I started riding the Ron and Sander and we went together until around 140 kms into the ride. I was feeling weaker and weaker and it didn’t matter how much I ate and drink. I paid special attention to that as I suffered too much on the Ronde van Nijmegen from last week. But at around 140 kms Ron took off and I couldn’t keep up. Sander followed him and I tried to follow and my legs just gave up.

The last 40 kms was a real struggle. In the city of Gulpen, with around 30 kms to go I had to sit down and rest for a long time. I stayed there for at least 40 minutes eating, drinking and resting. Starting again was a real fight to keep moving. I went very slowly to try to warm up and regain pace but started feeling nauseated and just tired. I stopped once and decided to give up and looked in Google maps what was the direct root to the finish. That was 21 kms and that against the 25 kms for the race route I decided to continue on the route.

But that meant climbing the last 5 steepest hills of the day, that the organization left to the end. Specially the Dodemanweg and the Eyserbosweg, each going to 22% gradients. When I got to those hills I was feeling a bit better and just climbed them to finish, not pushing at all. The funny thing is that the feeling of climbing like that vs pushing is totally different. It is almost pleasant and I even took over two cyclists… Not bad for someone totally screwed up…

The conclusion is that my training is going wrong this year. I need to put more effort on zone 2 and 3 training and more constant long rides. I need to get more training during the week and I can’t rely on weekend training only without any gym workouts… Need to train cleverer but this year won’t be my year anymore. Too late…