The Long(er) Ride

I finally made the time and mental commitment to do a proper long ride. I've done lots of 1, 2  and even a 3-hour ride. But 4+ is where the fatigue can really set in, and you separate the man in you from the...not man.

4:10 last Saturday, including an ascent of Mt. Diablo here in the SF East Bay. The plan was to sit just under goal half IM bike power for most of it, and push +10% or so on the climbs. Try to bring the whole ride in around 155 watts or so.

But I got a little carried away; just couldn't help it. At 2:15 I was most of the way up the mountain, sitting at 168 watts (NP average). And then power just started dropping. By the summit, I was at 165. After the descent, at 160. During the last hour home on mostly flats, I drifted all the way back to 152 average for the ride.

So, lessons learned.

Lessons:

• Remember to eat. I need calories on these longer rides.

• Stop to refill water. I was impatient and skipped a water stop on the way up. Was mildly dehydrated the rest of the day.

• Pace more carefully. Have a plan; stick to the plan. It would have been a better workout if I had kept the first half under 160w, then picked it up for the last hour going home.

• Finally...I do not yet possess the long-ride stamina for the event. My 60min power is on track -- I think I'm at about 210w, and my goal was to get to 200w. Based on that, my plan is to race at 160w. But I have to still do the longer rides to build stamina to hold that power and still run.

But, it's all going in the right direction.