It is a bit crazy, mad, to be cranking out maximum watts on every climb portal. I have done almost all of the short ones. I rode Willunga Hill today, smashing the best time by almost a minute. My former time was 11:19 and today at full power, 292 watts, I put in a 10:31. I rode the last 7 minutes at 300 watts.
Next, an attack on Beleach or whatever it is called. I only know two things, only a few have cracked the thirty minute mark and foremost, that I'm just chasing Gardner. Illi is at 24, Asa at 26, Jenny at 29. I'm aiming at 26 with hopes of 25. If I finish at one minute or less from Illi's time, it will be a victory. I have a few Q's indeed. But, none of those climbs were held by Illi. There is one climb held by Verharen, also out of reach. We'll see how close I can get tomorrow. It is a climb with a fiendish finish. We need a few feathers.
Bealach na Ba is a very tough climb with a bunch of steep pitches. My eta timer was not working on this climb. I had a great start, strong and fast. But, then it got to be a struggle as the red segments loomed up ahead. I tried my best. My power was virtually 250 watts with a little respite here and there. But, I couldn't recoup my power in the final four sections where I really wanted to shine. At least I gave it a good shot, finishing in third overall. However, I trailed Asa by almost three minutes and Gardner by almost five. So then, third place is not too comforting. 28:57
Honda is the last of the under 20 climbs. I had a real battle to keep it under 18, despite a fairly good start. The climb is almost all orange. I was going under 17 when I really hit the wall and had to recoup before the line. I did a fairly good 17:05. Second place is at 17:04 (Really?) I rode at 263 watts, just good enough, but below my great day potential. Illi has the bar set pretty high at 15:19. Her times are real but super human. I could do better, maybe even hit 16, but 15 seems out of reach. All part of the game and part of the hunt, right?
Today, I took a break from long climbs to do some testing. My 10 second sprint was 823. Anything over 800 is great for me. I ran a one minute, three times. The second attempt stopped with 15 seconds to go. My legs were shot from the first effort....482 followed by a 501 minute! I'm back, like my 504 that I ran in August for the Academy pro workout. That's pretty sharp. I may give it one more attack, just not sure when. Then on another day, my ten minute power was 282 (for me about average). I just felt weak instead of strong. I didn't eat most today, just so busy. I paid the price. I can get close to 300. It just wasn't to be today. I did 289 for the first five minutes. Sad emoji.😞😞😞😞😞😞😞
Next is the 20-30 minute climbs. I'm missing the Platz. The Ordino was not full gas, Negra was done after a race, and Peyresourdes should be better wattage than 245.But, I went for the combo Turbie and Eze, doint the Turbie in 22:34 at 253 watts. Then onto the Eze at 268 watts in 5:18. The total ride at 35:01 was a great time as I would have been happy at 36 flat. I hit the finish hard barely finishing in a heap at and the Q! Hopefully, Illi won't ride this anytime soon. She probably would cut it down under 33. She's just that darn good.
Did a one x 19 effort, aiming at 293 (10 minute pace) and higher. I averaged 318 (310 with two strong efforts to finish). I also want to do some sprint repeats at 500 watts and work toward 520 goal.
