Riding

As planned yesterday, today was riding day. 

Ouchy.

As written about yesterday, my plan for today was to try and ride a bit further than last Sunday, but possibly get through the ride feeling better than last Sunday. 1 out of 2 ain't bad. 

Actually for a lot of the ride I was looking like getting a solid 2 our of 2, but the wheels really sort of fell off in the last 15km and I really only got home due to stubbornness and the good will of strangers (who let me follow their wheel for the final 7km of headwind). 

So good bit first. I got through 110km today and I think my average power was slightly higher than last week, although my average speed was lower. For much of the ride I felt pretty good. I did head down the Freeway path as planned, which meant 55km of riding into a slight headwind followed by 45km riding with a slightly tail wind and then the final 10km riding into a proper headwind. While I had up and down periods I was feeling pretty good all the way up to the final 10km of headwind. My back was pretty sore and I was struggling on the hills, but I was still managing to hold a reasonable power and speed up until that point. 

That last 10km of headwind though, that was soul destroying. My ride today followed a pattern that is pretty common at this time of year. in Perth Ride out with a bit of a gentle south easterly and then ride home with a strengthening south westerly. I live near the coast, which means at the start of the session I ride into the easterly and at the end I have to ride into the westerly. The easterly usually isn't a big deal as it isn't that strong and you are fresh, but heading into a strong westerly on tired legs can be enough to reduce you to tears. That was nearly the case today. 

I really hit a wall with about 7kms to go and was basically reduced to soft pedaling until I managed to score a draft of somebody coming past. If it hadn't been for that draft I might still be out there. 

So given that the 110km nearly destroyed me, how do I feel about the 160km? Cautiously optimistic I think. While I still need to find another 50km, I am choosing to believe that the slower speed and bigger group will mean I will get through the 160km okay. That is what I am hoping anyway. 

While the ride was just a little tough, all up I am very glad to have got through it. Nice little confidence boost for next week.

Definitely going to sleep well tonight though.