Chasing the Sun

4 mi from home, and my face is so cold it's numb

Well, my new ex-riding partner didn't show up at 10:00, or 11:00, so I went out the door a little later than expected, but the sunshine never did materialize (it just now broke through at ~ 2:30).

Carbo loading the night before in expectation of a hard ride the next day is putting some pounds on my spare tire, because the weather-guessers pull a 'gottcha' the next day and with no ride to burn the glycogen, everything I eat the next day gets stored as fat. I HATE it when that happens, so I went  out the door hungry this morning, determined to burn some extra fat. I did lose 5lbs on the ride, but that was because they are doing construction at the park where I stopped for water (in vain) and found a volunteer photographer instead.

In spite of no sunshine, the sky at least had some light blue streaks, and the temps were in the mid-50s, so a good day to ride. It actually made for some breathtaking scenery up at Beal's Point, and WOW, is the grass ever green along the American River Parkway Trail!

My BP was a little high this morning when I woke up, so I reluctantly took a half dose of my BP med. It hyper-dilates my capillaries when I ride, and makes me cough, but in the cold air it doesn't seem to add much load to my heart as I don't need to flow blood to the surface of the skin to say cool. In fact, there was a 30 minute stretch where the day took a very chilly turn. Part of the reason I stopped at the drinking fountain - to dig a Powerbar out from under my tights. Having said that, my wind vest, balaclava and jersey were soaked when I got home from pushing so hard.

I turned the 'flat', 'straight' sections into TTs, and that right calf I tore 6 months ago was very sore when I got home. I did manage a 5 mi stretch at 19.4 in spite of a short 7% climb. I'm getting better at positioning myself forward on the seat, especially on climbs, to make better power. I definitely need to get a seat with a long nose, and soon. It feels like I sat on a dull screwdriver at the end of the ride, as I am sitting on so little of the seat's nose.

I've noticed, especially after the calf tear, that I make a lot of power with my quads (leg extensions @ 360+). I might have to try some squats again in the gym to see if I can add some glutes, but I suspect the hamstrings are the weakest link. At any rate, sliding forward on the seat when pushing really hard punches up the power about 25% for a few minutes.

Nice ride, and a nice day for it. I took 4 minutes off my previous time, so I'll be tired tomorrow, but smiling.