Jubilation

Jubilation and Celebration! Praise the Riverside Parks and Recreation! They have finally paved the last quarter mile of dirt on the upper SART. I rode my Lucky Greek Permanent Populaire last night after work and was amazed to see that the bike path is fully paved all the way to Norco. I had to celebrate in rhyme.

Ode to Riverside Parks and Recreation

I ride the SART 'most every week
But the dirt section just makes me weep
I wished it paved just like the rest
Now you've paved it, you're the best!

The weather forecasters were predicting sustained winds of 20-30 mph with gusts of 50-60 mph. Not ideal cycling weather. However when I left work it was no more windy than normal (10-15 mph) so I decided to ride.

I had a good tailwind on the outward leg which combined with the increased power from my workouts gave me an average of 18mph at the turnaround at the Lucky Greek. Talking of increased power, I've increased my training to 10,000 miles a year with more intensity training. I've noticed my power at 130bpm has increased from 140 watts to 160 watts - an increase of 20 watts in three months.

According to Dr. Ferrari I would need to be able to sustain 600 watts to win the Tour at my current weight. That means I'll be ready in five years at this rate of improvement. I don't know what all the fuss is about drugs :-)

I got through the control as fast as I could and still had a 17mph average when I left. The return into the headwind was tiring but I figured I only had to average 15 mph on the return to set a new personal best. Unfortunately the bulk of the climbing is on the return. The french fries in my top tube bag were delicious and I enjoyed the fully paved SART on the way back too.

I finished the 63 mile solo ride in 3:48 - my first sub 4 hour 100k. My average speed was 16.2 mph which is more that a full mph faster than my previous best. The more intense training is paying off. I just hope USADA doesn't note my spike in performance and start drug testing me. I'm not too worried about the UCI - apparently you can buy them off.

A nice and easy The Crema ride tomorrow with Amber and Sherry in preparation for the SLO 300k next week.