Pa Pa Pa Power Baby!

Watts up?

Reluctantly I have become better at lowering the bar to account for my declining abilities as I get older.  Still, deep down, I always hold out hope that I can feel young again. Sadly, when preparing for these adventures, I typically feel my actual age.

I have found the formula for these epic adventures is a stunning amount of riding volume, with intensity being very useful, but ultimately, optional.  In years past, as the departure date approached I was a pile of aches and pains.  In response to one of those aches, my knees specifically, I typically would be forced to phase out running. 

Intervals, the secret sauce of every sport, do make you stronger, but if the goal is just to finish each five to seven hour day, one tends to focus on the volume of rides and thus, intervals sessions often get compromised or eliminated.

This past winter after one of our miserable rain filled rides, El Jefe’ mentioned that he had found that the more he does off the bike, the healthier he is on the bike. Obviously his comment stuck with me and I made a goal to keep a lot of variety in my training.

 A typical day at Squatty Potty Boot Camp

When my knee acted up last month I attacked it with ice and Aleve and it got back in line like a nervous recruit. I have managed to continue to run and do stairs and maintain a bit of core work. I’ve done intervals and hill repeats.  Four trips up Washington Pass spread across three straight weekends mandates a certain level of intensity in addition to the volume.

This year I finally followed the preaching of McWoodie with back to back to back long days.  I did this a few times and survived.  I have become a believer.

Last weekend I went for seven and a half hours of steady, though not strenuous, riding.  That ride seemed to confirm that I had managed to load up my endurance bank account.  I felt ready for the trip.

This week and next I reduce the volume and keep a bit of intensity while my body recovers and my muscles build up in response to the big workload they have seen.  It is a fun time as the rides are shorter and I start to feel fresher than I have in a while.

Last night I went for one of the most amazing rides of my life.  Although I have run and done core work since Sunday, it was my first ride after my all day epic.

Just sitting on the bike it felt magic.  It seemed to fit better and feel lighter than ever before.  It reminded me of when I get on my fast bike after riding my commuter or cyclocross bike and the lack of weight and rolling resistance makes me feel like I can fly.  As I rolled out I had to hang on to the bars as it seemed as if the bike wanted to take off without me.

It was shifting perfectly, running smoothly and everything felt fast. My legs felt zippy.  My knees and forearms are now tanned which I always associate with fitness.  I couldn’t help but go fast.   I wasn’t watching my HR or cadence.  I was just riding.

Soon I was down on the Burke-Gilman trail and spinning.   Without intending to do so I kept increasing my speed. After turning around I felt loose and decided to leg my legs do what they wanted.

These puppies can RUN!

Whenever I have wanted to do a hard effort I have had to do so on a climb.  On the flat the big gears either felt too hard, begging for a downshift, or I found myself spinning fast, but not wanting to upshift. This day I kept upshifting and just letting the power flow. 

Soon I settled into a rhythm and I felt good, really good.  I checked my speed.  Thirty eight kilometers per hour.  I was surprised at the speed and more surprised at how easy it felt.  I felt like I had more power than I have ever had.

I was expecting that my training would have resulted in endurance, but this amount of power was a total surprise. Frankly, it felt like a dream and I didn’t want it to end.

As if I was turning a dial- I increased my power and speed.  I felt like I had even more in the tank.  Turning off the trail I knew this was not the day and time to go for a PR on the climb up from the lake because twilight visibility and people rushing home made the roads less than safe.  Still, I made good time.

The stoplights on my return forced more than one stop and start.  I accelerated with purpose when the lights turned green.  In each case I felt like I had more horsepower than I knew what to do with. 

On a climb Hottie and I refer to as Alpe d’YMCA I approached it with my chain in the middle of my cassette.  I thought to myself, “I don’t even want to downshift.”  I powered up and over the short and ridiculously steep hill.  I’ve been riding that hill for fifteen years and I’ve never done that.

I can only assume this is what it feels like when you’re on PEDs. 

 Once you go DOPE you never go back!

It would appear that all of my training has paid off in a big way.   Even if I get dropped five minutes into my next ride with my team I will always have this one ride to remember.