Look what the wind blew in!
Funny how the weather can completely change a course you have ridden many times before. That was the case for me on Monday. It wasn’t rain, sleet, or snow… it was the wind that made life miserable.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Jim, my coach, was trying to make me miserable – wind or no wind. The workout for the day called for a 20 minute warm-up that included a five minute effort at 280 watts. Once I finished that I was to do six sprint repeats up the Bi-Lo side of Piney Mountain.
These repeats were to be 90 second attempts. For the first 60 seconds I was to remain seated and hold an average between 295 – 320 watts. At the 60 second mark it was time to stand and attack with an average of 335 – 380 watts for the final 30 seconds. I took 3 minutes between each attempt to recover and go at it again.
I wasn’t given much time to recover before spinning into a 20 minute ride between 245 – 265 watt ride. It wasn’t until I finished that effort on the rolling terrain that I would be allowed to slow a bit and just enjoy the ride home. That is if the wind would allow me!
Piney Mountain (which really isn’t a mountain, but a hill) has a winding slope that is between a 7 and 10% grade. I started my first attempt feeling pretty good. As I started the lap on my Garmin and increased the wattage I was suddenly slapped by a wind coming at an angle from my left.
The wind would swirl and gust. I would lean into the wind to keep from being blown over and then suddenly there would be no wind and I would have to gather the bike to keep from swerving into traffic. It made the effort hard and it was hard to maintain a momentum.
On the way back down was worse! I descended with much more speed. As I would approach a certain section where there was a break between the houses and trees, the wind would slap my front wheel and attempt to jerk me to the left.
I was glad to finish the tedious job of finishing the repeats. I think I would have actually enjoyed the efforts and the pain they caused had it a nice day in early June. As it was, it was a cool day in January and I still had a ways to go to fight the wind.
The rolling course I followed for the 20 minute effort was one I have ridden many times before. I have knocked it out without a thought. It was the wind that made it tough. I started to think that this might be how the weather would be when we race the Spring Series. If we have wind like this…. I’m not so sure I won’t to stick my neck out. As Zac at Sunshine Cycle Shop said of such an event, “There will be blood.”
I rolled into the driveway quite happy to be finished. The wind certainly added to my work. I’m looking forward to that nice day in early June.
Tags: Piney Mountain, Repeats, Wind
