New PB!

This morning I decided to try and hammer to a new PB on the 40km ITT course. It's a relatively tough course, the first 12km are all up hill, the first 8km at 4.6%, the next 4km at 2%. Then a 1.8% downhill ride for 8km to bring you to the half-way mark. From that point on it's pretty flat - the biggest climb is 1.8%, the biggest decline is .8%.

When I started I checked my previous best time - 1:11:30 - and 204 watts to get there. So, that was going to be the goal, better than 204 watts average. I quickly cranked it up to the 200 watt range and was pleasantly surprised by how good that felt. As I hit the hills, I decided to push it a little, and I think I managed about 250watts average on most of the 4.6% climb. I checked the HR - still around 166, so no problems there.

the next 4km I cranked it up a bit more - and actually averaged around 270 watts for a good chunk of the 2% grade. On the down hill I pushed it and kept the wattage in that 210 -215 range. Things felt pretty good! Hit the flats.

I watched as my average wattage kept climbing - I was suprised to see it pass 225, that's more than I expected! I checked my HR, and it was steadily climbing, but I didn't feel like I was dying yet. Was pretty consistently in the 173 range (where I'd previously calculated my LTL to be.)

With 6km to go I realized I was not going to break one hour (my long-term goal) but decided to really lay it down. I don't remember what song was playing on the ipod now, but it was a good hammer-fest tune, and I decided to stand and hammer - I held it there for the whole song, keeping my cadence at 89 and turning the 53x12 gear. I checked the wattage and I was average 290watts during this section. My wife and son came over and watched my little hammerfest progress for a bit - with my son there I sure wasn't going to sit-down anytime soon! I kept pounding it out.

Finally, I crossed the line - time was 1:06:42 a new PB. HR average was 169, Maxed at 189, and average speed was 35.96 This was a tough ride, and I really felt like I'd pushed it. Yet even after this go 'round I didn't feel like I was going to fall off the bike! Bike fitness is definitely improving, and wattage is going up - I averaged 241 watts for the 40km! I think I'm going to have to raise that another 20 watts to break one hour at my current weight - but, of course, losing weight and maintaining this wattage output should get me there, too.

Today's weight came in at 83.5kg. Up a little from Sat, but not bad considering Sunday and Monday were off days. A little more consistency in the diet and I'll be well on my way to some very light days.