yesterday after my ride i decided i had enough steady state miles under my legs to form a good base to build on. so today i began work on one of my weaknesses. despite my xtranormal video alter ego's overdeveloped bravado, i have a few things that have held me back in past group rides. the main problem: i cannot accelerate with the pack. those silly 20-year-olds leave me in the dust when they pick up the pace 7 or 8 miles into the ride and i'm left struggling in the wind alone.
so today i worked on sprinting in an anaerobic state. i left my driveway around 7:30 (thankful the predicted snow missed my neighborhood entirely) and took it easy for the first two miles of my ride. i wanted my legs to warm up before i began to torture them. at two miles out, i leaped out of the saddle and sprinted for a quarter mile. i sat back down and spun for the same distance. then i was out of the saddle and sprinting again. this time i pushed it hard for a half mile. that done, i rested for a half mile. i continued on up the ladder. three quarter mile sprint. three quarter mile rest. one mile sprint. one mile rest. then i started down. i was back down by the time i reached mile ten. from there i rode an easy one and a half miles and turned around.
at mile thirteen i started over. same ladder. it was easier this time since the wind was at my back rather than in my face. i was able to push it up over 30mph several times and maintain almost 20mph during rest periods. when i got back to the bottom of this ladder, i did repeat quarter mile steps until i got back to town. that added up to four extra sprints.
i ended my ride an hour and a half after i started it. i had just under 25 miles under my belt. i averaged 16.6mph. i am now 1,000 miles ahead of last year's mileage. on february 26, 2009, i had only ridden 188.62 miles. today i am at 1189.66 miles. that many miles last year was august 3. (24.96 miles @ 16.6mph)
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