This weekend was a mix of rain and sun. I did more hiking because of it. It helped loosen the legs pre and post training with Timo from Team Infinity Cycling and presented the opportunity to dive deep into the power of the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 featured in the post below. Really stunning little sense… but I’ll let you be the judge.
Onto the riding part of the story… As you will see, there are no riding photos in this post; this is for two reasons. One, because I was very focused to remain as efficient as possible during training. Two, because any shot I did capture was taken with the Olympus Stylus Epic and is currently being processed this morning (those photos to come later this week).
I saw the weekends predicted rainfall on Thursday and already committed to slaving through some roller training (fortunately the rain held out both Sat. and Sun. morning! WOO on that!). Yes, I use the word “training” and intend the full meaning of the word. I’ve got the road bug… like bad! Not sure when or how I caught it but it’s here. Just in time too, Timo just started his winter training for the upcoming season so I’m taking notes and tagging along for as long as possible. Although I rode his wheel 90 percent of the day, the training session was the best ride I’ve ever had on two wheels. Approximately 80 miles in 4 hours. I was beat!
The day went a little faster than originally planned. A few more riders showed up that had a different agenda of dominating some pretty fast tempo. At first sight Timo was gonna let them do what they needed to do and drop off to stay on the strict training plan he set out (i.e. zone 2 primarily with 3 10 minute zone 3 efforts); but that’s not how the day went. Like any strong cyclist being challenged by fellow peddlers… Timo saw the increased pace and followed suit… which meant I had to give it all I had to keep on his wheel or I knew I would be left in the dust.
I LOVED IT! I was beat but it was great! I was challenged on all levels that wouldn’t really be noticed until mile 60 or so when my legs felt like knives were slowly being pressed into them. It was a mental game at that point. My body had already gone into survival mode and surprisingly became the most efficient after I hit this level of pain. The transition went like this from start to finish: Efficient, Fatigued/Not Efficient, Full Pain, Survival/Most Efficient. Now… this was my perceived effort levels. I have no scientific data to back this up, but it’s how I felt throughout the day.
So… looking forward to more days like this throughout the winter and learning what it takes to be a competitive cyclist. I’ve never raced road and honestly never wanted to until now. Pumped on trying something new, and as with any new venture… good good coffee always needs to be at the beginning of it. Cheers!
RIDE x CREATE
DOPE! Darth Vader would be proud!
Speaking of hiking… really impressed with the Ridgemont Outfitters Monty Hi’s. Tis the season to get out and catch some beautiful Fall leave change…well, if you’re in an area that has trees.
