Training Log Archive: veinbuster

Mrs might regret leaving me unattended - I’m holding top bid for a Full Fat in an auction ending in a few hours.

C • Good luck! 8

Went up to the north loop doing the outer perimeter clockwise. The wind was demanding in any open areas. The ground was much drier than yesterday and the trail was mostly empty with the exception of three clusters of 2-3 year olds in matching blue snow suits.

I waited until the heavy frost melted and the temperature hit 4C - quite a bit later than predicted. I went out one layer light for that temperature because it was supposed to make it to 10C in the next couple of hours.

I started south and the temperature matched my layers by about 7km and I unzipped from there. Just before finishing the south loop I came upon 7 swans on a lunch break. They periodically stop at this property where the owner has provided sanctuary for over 40 years. We spoke to him frequently before he had to protect the land from increasingly frequent disrespectful visitors. The land is for sale now, but a bit out of my reach, which is too bad because I think we would carry on Mr. Mackenzie's vision for a few more decades.

It was too nice to stop so I did the north loop as well. The unmaintained parts of the trail were quite slick and I was surprised gravity didn't get the better of me a few times. My Racing Ralphs held up quite nicely - well until I got a bit too cocky at an S turn on top of a hill. Lucky the grass was just wet even though the trail was a mud slick. I did have to put a foot down on one other tail wash, but it was a great ride and a good way to honour 'Bent's birthday.

One detour at the end to make sure I knew where I could recycle electronics then home to hydrate - not needing a bathroom break in 3 1/2 hours (the extra being a health care call from London - all is good) was a sure sign I hadn't had enough to drink.

nutrition: 1 buddy fruit

Rock Smasher.

Most physically demanding day yet at Habitat. The whole day was prepping for a fence along the property line. The hard part was the rock collection where the posts needed to be. Fist sized one weren’t bad. Head sized ones were a good bit of work but manageable. The real struggle was the torso size. All hand tools, with the exception of using a fork lift to move the giants after getting them free.

C • Rocks 2

Day 2 free weights - the heavy half of the session

Cool Mrs walkabout before she heads off to visit another parent in another hospital.

C • Sorry to hear that 1

Another test ride. Today I kept the slope flat to see what kind of power I needed to maintain 25km/hr - turns out just over 100 watts with no wind, which I found surprisingly low.

I did some more power sprints of 15-20 seconds. The first one I thought I had maxed out at 845 on flat, but then I found a bit more and stubbornly pushed over 1000 (ok 1002) which translated to 60 km/hr on the trainer. The problem was that my heart rate stayed elevated after the big push and had a hard time dropping back below 150 even at a very relaxed power level of 100-110.

I suspect my FTP will come in low to start the winter, probably the price I pay for not having many hard miles this year.

Day 1 soloflex and free weights

It was too nice out not to take a bike out. I wore an extra layer for the wind and was glad I did.

North along the river to the single track where I took a left turn philosophy in the hope of some different trails revealing themselves. I did find some new patches, but there was a good stretch of hike a bike where trails ended and nothing new seemed to open up. I’ll load the GPS after I stand on my head for a bit and see if it shows something I missed.

There was one little drop that ‘Bent and I had taken that we thought might actually be a creek bed. It was, and I didn’t follow it today as it was quite wet. Not to mention the drop down was quite scary looking when not overgrown.

Coming back on the east side of Rogers Reservoir was extremely sloppy. I’ll probably avoid it until it freezes over and gets a nice cover of snow.

C • Bikexploration 4

Mostly a checkout of the trainer setup. I put on Sufferfest Angels, but mostly used it for noise and queues.

It took some fussing to get the cadence working. I had left the sensor and wiring strapped on the bike while I had it out this summer and it shifted a bit.

Short bursts felt decent. Three tries: just under 800, near 900, then 945. I did these with a 4% slope and think I could crack 1000 setting a 5% slope. On the last run the trainer said I hit 47.7km/hr which I wouldn’t have thought I could do up a 4% slope. I didn’t time these, but was ramping up for about 10 seconds and holding for another 10.

1 minute felt a bit weak at 330 watts. I think I should be able to hold 400, but maybe I wasn’t doing that for a full minute last year.

Power: avg-144, max-945