Tuesday 2 May 2017

Fast Tuesday Part 4. Bicycle Redux.

Fast Tuesday; Bicycle Redux as today is known was about doing fast tuesday on the TCR ADV with my 404's shod on the frame as the Madone 9 has moved on to a lovely new home as I needed to shrink the fleet and keep  my 'Devon bike'. Not a diservice to the Madone, simply that it is better suited to different terrain.  I took a slightly different slant to the actual ride itself today in so much that we had established the busy ride across Newton from one side to another and back in post full gas shenanigans was actually having a negative effect on time and speed. So, the actual ride was segmented into a warm up, the actual fast tuesday part and of course a warm down. Jolly sensible.

What this meant in the end is that the valuable part of the ride, the middle portion was a big success today with some solid numbers appearing on the Garmin post ride and subsquently on Strava. 

These are -

26.0 miles in 1 hour 19 & 43 seconds.

Average speed 19.6 mph.

Average weighted power of 223 watts.

A new 20 minute FTP of 233 watts.

All of these numbers stack up to be a decent shift on the bike despite not feeling great. I felt very tired after a very busy bank holiday weekend and even thought about rain checking the ride, but they only come around once a week and next week is 7 days away. I have had a mysterious virus and an odd lump above my nose which I suspect is sinus related which is usually a sign of being run down. Snoring a bit too, a huge barometer for my partner who prods me in the night. Basically, if I snore, I am shattered. End of.

It was great to ride with Steve again. Monstering along on his Propel ADV SL - it is some bike. It turned heads today and we had two 'old women' commenting on how lovely it was. Steve; take note !!! He is in truly great shape and both of us, mid to latter 40 somethings are making good use of our time on the bike with busy family life away from the two wheeled wonder machines. Steve likes to use the pain cave and get on Zwift through the week. I would do the same. Trouble is my broadband is woeful. Less than 1 meg on an evening would render it pointless. I will stick to the commute riding and I am going to rustle up the single speed this week and put some miles on that as not ridden it since Feb. I intend on resting a bit now as feeling it today. Overall, despite getting a new FTP I did not feel fast. Strava inferred that I was a little 'jet lagged' and how I felt backs this up. The legs were heavy and testament to this was the ride back was three minutes slower over the 11.5 miles - see image below. Windy again but more to do with my legs than the weather today. Fish and chip suppers do not a bike rider make, but they do taste bloody lovely.








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