I slap the bacon out ya mouth, dance upon ya sarnie

[bob_summers]

It's definitely something I need to think about, but not sure if paying $$$ for ribose etc is gonna have the slightest effect at my level. Recovery eating is hard to get wrong, but easy to improve I guess.

Tues 13/3
Goizueta OnB
2h30 ishhhh

Started an easy week. Went out spinning easy until I got sucked into a uphill TT on the climb. Well, sucked in would be lying, I saw I was going to get caught and passed, and didn't want it to happen on a climb. Stupid pride again... Soft pedalled for the rest of the ride out (guy from earlier caught me and we sat up and chatted), met the club in the cafe and then rode back in wonderful warm sunshine, 20º with a fresh breeze off the sea.

Lots of riders out, slightly worried as I was getting back to town, a few police ambulance and fire trucks went hooning up the valley so hope noone came to grief.

[bob_summers]

Thurs 15/3
Goizueta OnB
78km, slow

The emergency on Tues turned out not to be a cyclist, but a farmer killed when his tractor overturned, sad news nonetheless.
Saw some horrific driving today though, this is on a country road that goes from nowhere to nowhere, and it's a given that there will be a lot of cyclists. So why people continue to be surprised by this and drive like pricks I don't know. One driver tried to pass our group in oncoming traffic, and had to cut into the peleton.. luckily we, and the oncoming car, saw it coming and managed to avoid a mass pile up

Anyway, nice easy pace apart from a crack at a Strava KOM, which I got but for how long I don't know.. if Strava ever catches on here, I'll be obliterated into 20th place

[Alistar]

Yeah easy to get squashed by tractors on hilly terrain. Never nice when someone gets killed just doing their job

Heaps of idiots who have no idea how to drive here too.

Gosh! Nice work on destroying the opposition on the climb. Speed /watts look impressive too.

[bob_summers]

Ta Al. No idea how they arrive at the watts, or if they are anywhere near accurate. I put 70kg for me, and guessed another 10kg for the bike, bottles etc. When those pedal mounted power meters become affordable, we'll know for sure

Fri 16/3
Azpeitia-Bidania-Lasarte
3h50
Last ride of easy week. I probably haven't gone easy enough, looking back thru the log, 3h50 is about the same as I was doing around this route when peaking last June Though I was sick at the end of May so maybe not so bad.
Not too concerned, the heavy sensation in my legs is better, if not gone. I'm riding 4/7 days with the 3 days off completely (should do some core/upper body stuff on these days) so I don't think I'm in danger of overdoing it.

Club run tomorrow, so 40km super easy and then maybe another 80 with the fast group if I can catch them this week (and if anyone goes out - forecast is shite)....

[Mr. Cleetus]

Ta Al. No idea how they arrive at the watts, or if they are anywhere near accurate. I put 70kg for me, and guessed another 10kg for the bike, bottles etc. When those pedal mounted power meters become affordable, we'll know for sure .

If they ignore wind and rolling resistance and just assume it is a steady gradient, then it is a pretty simple calculation. But those are some big assumptions I'd imagine it's not a bad guess though.

You've got a whole lotta consistent riding time in you at the moment, so maybe your bodies idea of what it needs for an easy week is different than it used to be!

[bob_summers]

Quite enjoyed the easy week MrC, don't want to go back to that nasty hard stuff

Sun 18/3
CLub Run Zumaia via 634 + Azpeitia - Beizama - Tolosa
4h30 easy

Bad forecast meant just a handful of battle hardened old skoolers were out this morning. It rained for the first hour or so, we went steady up the coast with the sun threatening to come out. Waited for a couple of punctures, got to Zumaia about 45m slower than it takes me solo!
Just 2 of us carried on from Zumaia, we did a new (to me) climb through Nuarbe and Beizama, to the col of Santa Agueda. I can't believe I didn't know this climb; essentially the same route as I did on Friday but the col is 200m higher, a very nice route with views to Sierra de Aizkorri.
A few showers and some hail, but finished the ride in bright sunshine (pet hate - suffering 4 hrs of rain, then riding back into town in sunshine, people think you've been for a pleasant jaunt in lovely spring weather )

[Alistar]

Yeah, just been reading the theory its better to hit it really hard on the hard days, and take it really easy on the easy days. Nothing worse than just tootling around in between constantly, which just guarantees mediocre performance and results with little gains. Think I've been guilty of doing that until quite recently...

Is 4hr30 ever easy btw?

Bad forecast meant just a handful of battle hardened old skoolers were out this morning...

[bob_summers]

I'm guilty of it too...especially on long solo rides where I just kinda drift along in my own little world and before I know it, the HR has been sat below 100 for the last hour
We should be audaxers!

Tues 20/3
Tolosa-Leitza-Basa Kabi-Goizueta
3h33

Total time is about par for this, but claimed a PB (1h51m over the Strava segment) to the halfway/highest point despite not really feeling like I was going particularly hard so I guess the rest week did me some good. PBs on the three steeper sections of the climb too. I love Strava, it just tells you all this shit when you get home, no more trying to remember where each climb starts
The second half of the ride not so fast, stopped for a coffee in Goizueta and struggled to get going again. Almost two minutes slower on the Cruce de Arano than last week.

[bob_summers]

Thur 22/3
Arrangoitze via Corniche
110km@30kmh

Got round in 3h40 exactly, so another 5m or so chipped off a previous PB but with a fairly stiff S/SE breeze which favours this route, I could sit at 38-40 down the valley from Senpere but the wind didn't really get in my face too much elsewhere.
Gold star of the day was another strong crack at Gaintxurizketa. This is almost nothing of a hill (3% over 2.0km!) but it's close to the end of the route, it's an exposed, dirty shoulder of the main road with traffic flying past at 120 or trucks labouring up, belching diesel fumes... it really isn't nice. So it's a triumph when I get up in the big ring, over 20kmh, it's a psychological thing... I'm trying to turn it from my bogey hill to something to attack hahah! I created a strava segment to keep me in check, I want to be TTing it by the beginning of June

[Alistar]

Good work! Hill sounds like the top half of Dyers. Nice feeling smashing it at a decent speed while going for a pb though.

[bob_summers]

Fri 23/3
ZUMAIA-ZESTOA-MADARIAGA-AZKOITIA-ZUMARRAGA-TOLOSA
144.1 km +1,604 m 05:21:00 http://ridewithgps.com/trips/556604

A big day out, followed a route I did in winter but turned left at Azkarate this time. Started well, light TW giving me a 32kmh avg for the first flattish 40km. The biiig climb out of Zestoa was hard (around 15km, with two 4km ramps of avg 10-12%, max 22%), it's not often I'm forced to use the 50*25 and get out of the saddle, front wheel hopping all over. Climbed it a bit faster than last time, but then it was snowing pretty hard. I was blowing at the top this time, and had troughed all my food in panic! The next climb was a horrible false flat drag up to Urretxu, 16km into a HW, couldn't get over 28kmh. My arse was hurting too, the pad in my bibs has fallen apart. From Zumarraga it's all gently downhill for the last 60km, following a river. This road is packed with pelotons from wobbly groups of old timers to the Caja Rural neopros, so I was guaranteed a wheel to suck most of the way home. Didn't happen of course, I could see a big bunch of AMPO riders on the horizon, rode my tits off to catch on, and they promptly turned off

I *did* get a nice surprise when I fed the track into Strava... a PB on Alto de Orio (without pushing for one, this is right at the beginning of the ride), but look closely... who's that in 4th?!



Garmin/Slipstream pro, from the Tour of the Basque Country 2 years ago! I don't care what kind of extenuating circumstances led to him going slower than me, my fingers are firmly in my ears

[Alistar]

Looks like a good session! Puts my hard climing hill to shame. 2kms of 12percent is enough for me! Yeah the cadence in my 50*25 yesterday felt ridiculous in the saddle.

Was that Christian Meier the cyclist, or Christian Meier who works at the local bakery? Good stuff anyway!

[Mr. Cleetus]

nice ride! sounds like fun . I think he was definitely not the baker Al.

[bob_summers]

Haha, well he was riding like a baker that day! In fairness to the lad, he's fairly rapid up the back of Igeldo. I'll be riding that hill a bit more in the next few weeks, so I'll chip away at his time but I can't see where I can make up 4-odd minutes! It's not that long of a climb



Sun 25/3
Club Run - Betelu + Azpirotz-Leitza-Uitzi-Tolosa
4.5h @ steady

Chilly start, clocks changed overnight so it was an hour colder. Good job my mobile phone knew what was going on, as I had no idea...
I sat on all the way to Betelu, where everyone bar 3 of us turned back. So off we went, up and over 3 cols at Ramon's pace (ie relaxed haha), back down to the valley and a HW for the last 25km which I didn't mind on this occasion as it gave me a chance to get the HR up a bit while the other 2 guys just sat on. 25º rolling back into town...

Felt good today, although I hardly worked at all, I did feel like I could carry on all day. Stark contrast to Friday.

[bob_summers]

Tues 27/3
Tolosa-Leitza-Basa Kabi-Goizueta

3h24 100km 1440m

That's a (non race) PB for the course, though to the half-way/highest point I was a few secs behind. Weird how after 50km the time difference is only seconds! Slow start due to HW out, which meant a tailwind assist for the last 15km, 38-40kmh all the way!ut it

We're on strike tomorrow, forecast is good and I had planned a big ride but I guess I have picketing obligations