At the beginning of the week still not feeling a 100%. But was feeling better during the week.
On Monday John and I went out for a quick spin after work. We went up rt 116 and then turned into North Poland rd. And after a nice Formula I like descend turned on to Main Poland road. On the descend from North Poland almost lost control of the bike when I had to brake hard and started to skit to the side of the road. I noticed on a number of roads that there was more loose gravel which changed the riding dynamics, especially on the descends.
Had decided to move my weekly run to Wednesday morning so I could have fresh legs for the NCC timetrial. This week it was a hillclimb from Williamsburg to Chesterfield. It was a windy and rolling course. In the end the result was ok, my average power output was above my FTP for the 26min 18sec section, good for a 13th place. The route was just short of 6 miles and had an elevation of 770 feet.
Again the wind was a big factor as it in came in from the front right. I had prepared the efforts for the course with BestBikeSplits and printed out a cheat sheet with the power output for the various grade sections and taped it on my top tube. Definitely helped at least as guidance for pacing.
Wednesday morning went for a short run, the ribs I had bruised 3 weeks before seemed to hold up, I was able to keep a tempo and after the run felt I good have gone longer and faster. Next week.
Thursday did another after week ride with John. We went down to the valley and after missing some turns rode thru Deerfield and Whately and then ended up on our destination road Whately Glen a dirt road towards Roaring brook. The road was in a pretty good condition although there were a few muddy sections. I felt stronger and decided to attack some of the little inclines with some sprints to spice it up a little.
The weekend was the Spring climbing weekend. A number of (fully vaccinated) friends came out for two days riding. Great see everyone again and to ride in a group. Mike came out Friday afternoon and stayed with us for the weekend,
Saturday we headed north with a group of 7 riders. After climbing Coopers lane we regrouped. Suddenly there was a loud hishing sound. Turned out I had a puncture on my tubeless rear tire. Took me a while to realize it was my tire. John helped with putting in a plug which combined with the sealant stopped the air from escaping. After this event took the decends a little easier, and made mental note to order a new tire.
When visiting the mini-horses a month earlier, the owner told us that a baby mini horse was expected soon. So we decided to pay the mini horses a visit and indeed the mini-mini horse had arrived, We finished the day with a climb up Patton hill. Felt good and had my 2nd best time riding up it.
On Sunday wanted to do a shorter ride with Paula. Pamela had offered her e-bike for Paula. This allowed us to join the main group of riders (10 in total at the start) for the beginning of the route. We ended up joining the main group for the first half of the ride. The highlight was the climb up Apple Valley road. In Hawley the others headed north, we (Neil, Mike, Paula and myself) headed back towards Conway.
Here the VeloViewer review of the week.
