Oceanside RR redux
Tomorrow is my final 56 mile ride before the big dance. These are my goals after a mediocre RR a few wks ago:
- Ride the full 56
- Maintain .78-.80 of FTP
- Maintain cadence of 75-95 rpm
- Tape my wattage gears "cheatsheet" to bike and follow it for the hill climbs
- Try out my nutrition plan with my new Infinit formula
- Practice hill climbing method as described in the wiki
- Utilize my new cassette
- Try to stay in aero position in 60-70% of the ride
- Don't worry about VI or TSS until after the ride
- Ride with the EN tri top and tri shorts as if it's the race
Hopefully I'll have a better ride than last time.
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Hey, Mac. Have fun executing your RR tomorrow. Pack your armwarmers ... forecast is for rain. I'm local and also doing an O-side RR tomorrow, so depending on your course, may see you out there. I'll be looking for EN kit!
@Mac
Have a good ride. I hope it stays dry enough for you. What cassette did you get 11-28? 12-27? Are you riding a compact in front? I'll bet you are going to enjoy Oceanside.
Another Socal peep,
Rubin
@Tim - Do you ride up to PCH from MB? I start all the way up in Zuma so I can avoid most of the traffic. I didn't see any other ENers, but then again I got a late start at 9am. Fortunately no rain!
@Rubin - I have a compact crank and ended up going with an 11-28 cassette, instead of the 12-27. The guys at Tri Lab said it would be much more beneficial for me considering my skill level, despite the few cadence drops. So far, it's been GREAT!
My RR went much better than the last one. Stayed in the proper wattage gears and had a pretty good run afterwards. I'm proud that I properly "flattened" most of the hills (see elevation vs watts in the chart). I can't imagine doubling this distance for the full IM though!
FIRST HALF HOUR
Average power: 118
Norm power: 123
IF: .80
VI: 1.04
TSS: 32
Av Cadence: 70
Felt almost too easy, mostly kept within Wattage Gear #1. My new cassette helped BIG time on the hills (see chart).
REST OF RIDE
Average power: 122
Norm power: 127
IF: .82
VI: 1.04
TSS: 216
Av Cadence: 69
Stayed mostly in upper end of Wattage Gear #2. 2nd half of ride felt like moderate work, not exactly easy. Worst part was saddle abrasion on the sides of my legs - what do you do about that?! I also learned that for me it feels like less work keeping a lower cadence. My legs seem to fatigue when I try to "spin" up to 90+ rpm. Hence, the low cadence numbers. The low watts & spikes near the middle of the chart were me dealing with traffic lights!
NUTRITION:
Used my new Infinit formula and it worked perfectly. No weariness, no cramps, no stomach issues, no sticky fingers!
BRICK RUN:
Miles 1-3 were easy at z1 + :30 seconds. It was hard to keep slow - after 56 miles I was ready to run!
Mile 4 was a solid z2
Miles 5-6 were somewhat tough, but I focused on turnover and didn't slow my pace down. My quads felt like they were on fire. Not sure why...I thought running mostly concerned hamstrings/glutes, and not the quads. What's up with that?
@Mac: First off, congratulations on getting the RR done smoothly. Practice does indeed help with these things.
To your Q, I often ride up PCH from MB. Once you get through Venice and actually onto 1, its not too bad going north if you go early AMs. There are some sketchy parts between Santa Monica and Malibu, but after that it opens up nicely heading to Pepperdine and noth from there where the rolllers start. As you probably know, that area right around Zuma is where the Malibu course is, so it's always good to train there if you're doing that one.
I also often go south from MB into PV. Many fairly good climbing rides there if you don't need huge mileage; for longer rides w/ some epic-ish climbs, though, all those canyons east of PCH in Malibu are hard to beat.
Enjoy taper and see you at Oceanside!
@Scott, my wife has this greasy stuff called Bag Balm which she insists that I try. I've also got body glide, so I'll try one of them on next weekend's final long ride. I assume there'll be an EN gathering in O-side before the race?
Mac,
Glad it went well!
O'side peeps: see the team update I sent out on Friday about filling out our race survey, and also see the thread in the Club House shaking you folks out of the trees. I know there are more of you than we've been able to identify. Help me help you by giving me a reason to come down from LA for two days for xx people vs y....just saying :-)
My guess is the quads on fire from during the run is a result from your lower cadence on the bike and using your quads a ton on the bike. You may want to play it safe and dial the entire bike down a few watts. Running off the bike can be very different from running on fresh legs.
The few watts you give up on the bike can be made up very easily by being able to run the full 13.1. If you go too hard on the bike and have to walk during the run you will definitely lose more overall time than those extra watts earned you.
During the summer I ride PCH most weekends. I hear you on the lights. They drive me batty. It's a 50 mile round trip starting from Pepperdine and turning at Las Posas. Once you get past Trancas, there are no lights. If it's just you, you can park at Michael Landon Park. Doing the long rides, you can add 6 miles per loop by heading out on Las Posas and swing back by your car for the bottle swap. Good luck in 2 weeks! Rich has done the course many, many times, and would know it best, but my friends who raced there say that it's a challenging 36 mile bike course, preceded by an easy 20 mile course.