End of August

   Well, here we are at the end of August. I've finished my Tough it Out workout series. I still have two rides to do, a long time trial and a 30/30 FTP test. Yesterday was one of the hardest ones the 2016 Zwift Academy #23 Over Unders. I do a 20 minute set (of 22) twice. I finished both sets with all stars, yeah! I think in the past, I was aiming just a bit too high and couldn't make the second set. Instead of averaging 260 and then 230 or something, I did 248 and 252. Consistent is better. Also, finished Ventoux 9th time and put myself at 49 of 50 on the all-time Zwift climbing list! 

   What's up in September? I have plans to peak for a parallel time trial championship but it looks like it may be cancelled. Waiting for official word. Tomorrow we're back on the TT bike around the volcano. Should be a blast. Maybe Zwift will announce Nationals or Academy and that may be worked into my schedule.Maybe we will still have Switzerland open. But otherwise, it looks like Zwift will hold Championship races in early December. I'll have to attempt that of course if they have a time trial. I can't beat Chloe or come anywhere near the top pros, but I will just look to top the amateur list. Staying in top form for the next three months will require some inventive coaching. For now, I'm in maintain top form mode. I get a rest day every other Thursday, lol.

   

   

Nine Jersey Quest

Below are the time trials I have done from July 24 through August 9.

They're all on my Strava and generally pictured.

This was a fun project and upped my fitness along with a few Ventoux and an Alp.

Now it's back to workouts and even longer time trials.

1.Paris
Lap time 9:41 watts 285
A solid effort on the time trial bike.
A fun tt course but a bore for racing really

2. New York
Lap time 14:30 watts 275
A personal best but I don't think I have tt'd it as a primary target before.
Course is a bit of a slugfest with not many visual ques.

3.Innsbruck
Lap time 44:29 watts 247 (255 np)
The long and often dreaded course.
will repeat at some point with climbing bike.

4. Crit City
Lap time 2:32 watts 362 (yes really)
Perfect course for my legs. Hit the hill at about 380 watts.
I have fallen in love with this course. My only two wins were here.

5. Bologna
Lap time 18:45 watts 260
Used the Felt Ar. Maybe repeat with Tron bike
I am just glad it finished at the top. Good climb today.
Clock stopped so no screen shot. (bummer was at 18:44)

6. London

Lap time 24:17 watts 264 (np 271)
A course from the old days.This was super hard effort.
I like the Classique and this course.
Reminds me of my big win here from CVR days.

7.Yorkshire

Ripped this one 21:55.271 watts (np 278)
Like this course for the little downhill rests.
Won the WC time trial title in 2019 on Yorkshire's Pump 8 course.

8. Watopia

Lap time: 13:26.73 watts 285 (np 291)

Pushed hard and felt really good today, better watts than Paris.
What if there only was the old Watopia Island?
Owned the QOM for this course for a short time

9. Richmond

Lap time 24:31.33 watts 265 (np 273)

Really good until 23rd street, felt little slow on last climb.
Those steep climbs are feared but a great challenge too.
I like the shorter Hilly Lap but this is alright too.

TOTAL TIME: 2:54.0895 

Well under my three hour goal.

This would make a great one day challenge.

I'm not happy with Bologna, will redo at some point.

The 100th Alp

Was excited for this when I finished my 50th within the first year. But, I got distracted at times with Academy, World's, and other goals. I even went a whole month without a climb! Now, this is not too monumental. A few guys have 200 and even 300. I'm not on a smart trainer either, so I'm not using tiny gears the whole way up. What really took the cake was about a week ago, I saw a 78 year old man does this route every day as his exercise. Daily!

I thought about a super light weight ride up the Alp but then it would be on private and I want others to see that this is something they can do too. I think I will tire of Ventoux soon. On the Alp, I always check my time at the turn at 10. That's the half-way point in time roughly. I judge my time based on that. With Ventoux, it's the time to the 9km stone or about half the time to the Reynard arch.

I've done a lot of workouts on the Alp. It means I'm in for over an hour and I won't back down. Only once recently, I remember being too tired to go past the first ten minutes. I actually felt guilt for turning around and quitting. But, I have had over-training issues before, so I have to let my body be the boss sometimes.

I rode the Alp at least 20 times picking one section to race all out. A lot of them were before the Tarmac bike too. I still hold a bunch of them. Dare I check? It just isn't my goal right now. For a time of several months, I held every single section record (because who else would be crazy enough to sprint each section one by one?)

Today is August 5th 2020. The Alp was released on March 29 2018. So. that's not even once a week but I made it. There will never be a Ventoux 100 or even 50 in my thinking. Officially, Ventoux will be released on August 10 but I have 5 already and probably a sixth this Sunday. 

For not being a climber, I have fallen in love with the Alp scenery and its 21 turns. Thanks Zwift and everyone who has followed my saga for a while. What's next? World's prep mostly. Less than 50 days to go. Serious training starts four weeks out. But doing a short time trial and then the Alp today are all part of the road to defend the title. Dig, dig, dig. Thanks for reading if you made it this far.