Big week this week. It started on Monday with a pickleball session. On Tuesday, I first did my Tabata workout as far as I could. I couldn't meet the power numbers in the second set and quit after four repeats. In the third set, I took it a little easier and was able to finish the complete set of eight repeats. This was followed by an NCC time trial. The course was in Richmond, mostly flat with some steep little climbs. I completed the 10-mile course in 27 minutes with an average of 254 watts.
To further improve my fitness, I did an FTP boost training session from Zwift on Wednesday. It included three sets consisting of 30 seconds at 400+ watts, followed by a 1-minute break, and then an 8-minute session at an FTP level of 250 watts, which I had estimated. I could just manage this workout, so it was exactly right. Later in the day, I played another pickleball session.
On Thanksgiving Day morning, I went for a quick 6-mile fat bike ride and, before our dinner, went for a walk with Takako and Neil to build up an appetite. Lucie had come along and she loved hanging out in the freezing South river.
Since this week's race was on Saturday, I did my regular opener session along Roaring Brook Road. I had another good start in the sprint test, with a peak of 991 watts.
The next morning early, Paula and I drove together to Fitchburg for the Crossburg race. There were only 10 racers in my 50+ category, and they were the really good ones.
Hence, I placed second to last, which was also where I ended up. They had slightly changed the course from last year's edition. The addition of a steep hill that you flew up from the field was a lot of fun, but I was not always able to ride up it.
The lack of fitness caused my back to hurt pretty badly from all the accelarations, but it was at least slightly better than the week before at Shedd Park. After the race, Paula and I continued on to Plum Island for a beautiful walk along the shore at sunset.
I ended the week with a ride via Ashfield along Bray to Shelburne Falls and then back to Conway. Halfway through Ashfield, I ran into Russ Loomis and we chatt ed for a while, but then I had to continue as I needed to be home before dark without lights.
This week on Veloviewer
