The highlight of my last week of training was the Recycled Cycles Racing Team's training camp in Bellingham. We planned to get in a long ride on Saturday and another long ride on Sunday but the weather didn't cooperate.
Saturday was one of my coldest days ever on a bike. We started in a cold rain with 35-degree temperatures. About 10 miles in it started snowing and soon we saw half an inch of accumulation on the roads. We celebrated this turn of events by riding on a dirt road that was littered with potholes… About 20 miles in, I still couldn't feel my hands and so I tried to get fresh gloves out of our team van. I couldn't even put the new ones on. I wasn't riding hard enough to get a good training effect and that I was getting a bit loopy from the cold so I decided to do the smart thing and get in the van for awhile. I didn't make it back out onto the road. About half the team (the tough guys) rode their bikes back to RTs while the wimps thawed out in the van. Check out some fabulous pictures of the experience on the Recycled Cycles Racing blog.
Sunday was much better -- 33 degrees but dry and partly sunny. The wind was ferocious at times - we got lots of practice riding in echelons. I rode conservatively for the first 40 miles and then started taking extra pulls in the second half of the ride. After riding along the Canadian border - literally a few feet from the Great White North - everyone was happy to turn south and ride the tailwind back to the 'Ham. Mike Brown and I had some nice attacks and counters between miles 60 and 70, and I felt great almost the whole way. All the spirited riding finally caught up to me around mile 75 but Rookie and I cruised back into town at a moderate pace and all was well.
Summary for the week:
- 5 swim sessions - 20500 yards
- 2 bike rides - 100 miles
- 4 runs including two track workouts - 31 miles
- 2 strength sessions
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