Mark's Camp week
Hi Coach Patrick,
I just watched your camp week video and now I need some guidance. In some of the race rehearsal wikis it says to pick a flat course for the race rehearsal so I had figured out a nice flattish 28 mile course (app. 850' elevation gain) that I could do 4 times and then run on the trail. Safe, repeatable, etc... However, in your camp week video you say to choose a course that's more like the race course. I created a loop on roads that I ride on all the time and found a loop that's 37.xx miles long and if I do it 3 times it turns out to be 112.xx miles and just about the same elevation gain as ,my A race. I can still park a car out there and it's safe, repeatable, etc.
Each course has it's pros and cons regarding safety. The flatter one is probably a little more safe since there's a trail that parallels it that I can get on if the traffic gets too heavy (the road does have nice wide shoulders), but the trail is rough in places. The other route has narrow roads mostly but it has light traffic and I do ride them more than the flat course, but it also has more stop signs, turns, etc. Decisions, decisions...
To complicate things further, WSM Al says that he does his race rehearsals on a flat trail even if he's doing a hilly course. I've been working on my VI on the hilly rides and have been keeping it below 1.03 during my intervals and that's with a 52-36X11-25 (I just ordered a new 50-34 crankset that will be here tomorrow!) and I'll have several more long rides to work on that in the hills. That is a consideration since my A race is the full Vineman with lots of rollers.
As I'm typing this my inclination is to go with the flatter course at least on the first day and perhaps do the hillier course on the second day. What's your recommendation?
Cheers, Mark
Comments
Hahahahahahahhahahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Flat course first; you can ride hills anytime, we use the flat terrain to make riding steady a given so you can focus on the important stuff like nutrition, body position, cadence, etc. Hilly would be a good choice for number two. Love those gears!!!!!