After three weeks of solid training concluding with the KHT Classic Criterium last Sunday (5th Feb), this week was a well earned recovery week leading into Sunday's Open Summer Series Criterium at Technology Park. Tuesday would see the most significant effort with a group training session up in Kings Park.
While Monday had nothing more to write about other than a commute to work and back, Tuesday was a different story with a yet another tough group training session up in the Park. With about 12 of us up there the small groups were a little larger with four riders each instead of three.
It seems that Tuesday morning was a popular one with numerous familiar faces to be seen and Strava suggests that there were other known riders up there blasting up and down Mount St and other significant climbs. You all know who you are and kudos to you.
We started with our usual "warm up" of 1.5 laps around Lovekin and May Drives and once again I enjoyed the pleasure of riding in the second of three groups with the intention of chasing down the first group. With a 30 second head start on us and 30 seconds ahead of the final group, it was going to be tough chasing.
We went out with some gusto and were quickly gaining on the lead group and managed to catch them by the end of May Drive. They latched onto our group and finished just behind us. It seems we had put in a strong effort as according to Brad, the final group were not able to take off a single metre between our groups. It certainly felt like we had done a fast lap and a half and the final effort up Lovekin Drive certainly hurt.
So to keep the pain coming, we were tortured with yet another set of four all-out hill sprints up Forrest Drive. Pairing up with AP on these, it was good motivation to try and complete each sprint as close to his wheel as possible or ahead of him if I could (almost).
Unfortunately the last one of these triggered a "twinge" in the left quad and brought a premature end to my morning's session. Initial assesments suggested a small tear had developed in the muscle group however an easy ride home later corrected the problem and with a little stretching, the muscles were back to 100% working order. I expect that it was the body's way of telling me to back off a little as I was so determined to keep with AP who is undoubtedly a better hills climber than I.
It was a shame not to complete the last exercise as Brad finished the morning with some pace line work which would have been a very beneficial training exercise. I managed to finish the morning with a commute to work which showed no evidence of a problem in the quad and nor did the ride home in the afternoon. Good news!
--
After yesterday's "twinge", my left quad was feeling like it had been starved of some decent training so I decided to accommodate it with a run up to Kings Park again and then out to Fremantle and back via Canning Bridge and Como.
I had been inspired by a compatriot rider to get up Mount St with a PB so approached it with that very goal in mind. My previous best was a mere 17.8 km/h so it was certainly time to improve on that. To take it up to 21.9 km/h was certainly better than expected but I still have some way to go to match my counterpart - all in good time.
Continuing through Kings Park, I moved into 4th overall on the Lovekin Sausage - Downhill segment on Strava and left Kings Park bound for Fremantle. The wind was with me but I knew that it was not going to be pleasant heading back to South Perth with consistent gusts up to 40 km/h being recorded. It would certainly require a good, solid effort to fight it.
Another PR was reached for the Curtin Ave Sprint segment which has always been a tough segment given its exposure to winds and a distance of nearly 2 km. To do a PR (41.9 km/h) was a bit unexpected given the windy conditions and the fact that I was doing it solo. I still have significant places to make up on the segment as 232nd out of 519 riders suggests there is still room for improvement. I suspect most of the top 20 or so were done as part of a group ride.
Heading out of Fremantle and the wind certainly had an effect and the ride to Point Walter was a little more difficult than usual. As I reached the hills at Point Walter, I decided to get a bit more hill sprint work in and headed up Reserve St. The wind was howling as I headed up so not one of my better efforts up there even though I seemed to work harder than ever to get to the top.
Not to be put off, I followed this up with a dash up Moering St. It's a killer climb that kind of comes at you in two segments, the short and the full. The gradient eases up as you come out the short segment but given the work you do to get up the first section, the second section hurts like hell. It's great for hill sprint training and I managed yet another PR and a 7th overall up the Moering St Short segment.
So the left quad held up perfectly and there was no sign of Tuesday morning's problem so finished up with a commute to work and back.
--
Up early Thursday morning to join David and Emma for a couple of laps around the UCI World Cycling Tour course up in Kings Park (again, three days in a row!). As I was in my recovery week, I was not keen to go around at the pace that would be set in the race but it did give me a chance to see the technicalities of the course and to climb some of the hills.
It was also Emma's first time riding the course and she has not yet made up her mind as to whether or not she will compete on March 25th. Even at the slower pace we rode, by the time I got off the bike I felt like I had just completed the race itself. With the twinge I felt in my left quad on Tuesday morning and the feeling I got after this morning's session, I took it as a sign that I should definitely take tomorrow off.
As for my assessment of the course: I think it will be quite challenging on the day. The climbs up Spring and Malcom Streets will certainly help to weed out some of the riders while the flatter sections should see some fast cycling. If there is to be wind on the day, I will be hoping for a north-westerly as I would prefer to fight the wind up those two hills than to have to battle it coming around Mounts Bay Rd leading into the climbs. A north-westerly should also prove to be a little more inviting heading up Lovekin Drive as it would be across us more that a head wind. The Early Bird Time Trials I rode through the summer will certainly be of help as I will be totally familiar with how to ride that up-hill stretch.
Bring on March 25th.
--
After reviewing my rides for the past 4 weeks, I noted that I had only had one day off the bike for the period. So the decision not to touch the bike on Friday was any easy one. Therefore, there is nothing to report for Friday morning training and I'm looking forward to the Saturday group ride with the Garland Crew and Sunday's Crit.
Up early Thursday morning to join David and Emma for a couple of laps around the UCI World Cycling Tour course up in Kings Park (again, three days in a row!). As I was in my recovery week, I was not keen to go around at the pace that would be set in the race but it did give me a chance to see the technicalities of the course and to climb some of the hills.
It was also Emma's first time riding the course and she has not yet made up her mind as to whether or not she will compete on March 25th. Even at the slower pace we rode, by the time I got off the bike I felt like I had just completed the race itself. With the twinge I felt in my left quad on Tuesday morning and the feeling I got after this morning's session, I took it as a sign that I should definitely take tomorrow off.
As for my assessment of the course: I think it will be quite challenging on the day. The climbs up Spring and Malcom Streets will certainly help to weed out some of the riders while the flatter sections should see some fast cycling. If there is to be wind on the day, I will be hoping for a north-westerly as I would prefer to fight the wind up those two hills than to have to battle it coming around Mounts Bay Rd leading into the climbs. A north-westerly should also prove to be a little more inviting heading up Lovekin Drive as it would be across us more that a head wind. The Early Bird Time Trials I rode through the summer will certainly be of help as I will be totally familiar with how to ride that up-hill stretch.
Bring on March 25th.
--
After reviewing my rides for the past 4 weeks, I noted that I had only had one day off the bike for the period. So the decision not to touch the bike on Friday was any easy one. Therefore, there is nothing to report for Friday morning training and I'm looking forward to the Saturday group ride with the Garland Crew and Sunday's Crit.
No comments:
Post a Comment