Week 15

Date
April 12, 2015

Distance
103 miles

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Week 15

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Weather

Ride Report 

I did another back-to-back and this was the second day. My legs didn't feel so great before the ride, but they loosened up pretty quickly. I had a decent speed going on the first half of the ride and then things slowed down on the ~30 mile stretch of US 50. It was one of those days when I felt like I had a headwind in both directions.

50

Week 14

Date
April 5, 2015

Distance
103 miles

Strava Link
Week 14

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 

It was a cold and windy weekend, but I managed to fit in back-to-back centuries. Saturday was in the 10-25mph wind range, but the wind didn't really pick up until around 11:00 or so, allowing me a few hours to relax a little. Sunday was a different story. I woke up around 6:00 and the wind was already blowing hard. Sunday's winds were more in the 20-30mph range. I did laps around Washoe lake so I wouldn't have to spend too much time at once riding into the wind.

The disappearing Washoe Lake

Washoe Lake is disappearing before our eyes and is supposed to be completely dry by summer. Here's a picture from a similar spot in December, 2012.

Washoe lake, December 2012

Week 13

Date
March 29, 2015

Distance
127 miles

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Week 13

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 

I had a big week last week, so I took things pretty easy this week. I did two recovery rides plus one day off, and then on Thursday I was feeling frisky and did a short but solid ride. I went easy on Friday and then rode full gas up Geiger on Saturday. I wasn't too happy with the results up Geiger. I was hoping to be about a minute faster.

I expected to feel good on Sunday. With the warm weather it almost felt like summer out there, so I did a summer-like route. I started with Geiger Grade, then down 6 Mile Canyon and back up the truck route to Virginia City. After that I decided to climb Mt. Rose for the first time this year. I don't know what it was, but I didn't feel good at all on Mt. Rose. I'm not sure if I'm not 100% recovered from last week or if I'm simply not in good climbing shape yet this year. I felt more sore than normal after the ride, too. I'll take it easy again next week and see how I feel.

Meanwhile, there was a pretty good crowd at the lake and people were out there in bathing suits. It was another beautiful day for a ride.

Week 12

Date
March 20, 2015

Distance
122 miles

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Week 12

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Weather

Ride Report 
I was able to squeeze in a 4-day Petoji training block. I was hoping to average 110 miles per day, but mostly by accident I ended up averaging 119 miles per day. On the first day the weather was great and I ended up riding 125 miles. This ride was the second day, and since the weather was still good (a little windy) I decided to climb US 50 for the first time this year and take a quick look at Lake Tahoe.

I know it's just a bad cell phone picture, but you can probably see that there's hardly any snow left. I was down in Markleeville yesterday and Monitor Pass is already open. I'm tempted to go ride it next weekend.

I ramped things down a little on the last two days with shorter rides and not as much climbing (Day 3, Day 4). That was more due to the wind than anything else. The wind hit me on day 3, but I started early on day 4 and missed the worst of it.

My legs felt pretty good. I'm starting to learn how to pace myself for these multiple long days. I just have to accept riding at a slightly slower pace. The biggest thing is to pace myself on the climbs. My instinct is to ride the climbs hard, but I was doing a pretty good job this week of riding the climbs at a more relaxed pace. I rode hard up a short climb on the 4th day and it took a lot more out of me than I expected. 4 days may sound like a lot, but it's not even 20% of what I'll need to do in August. Pacing will become even more important.

Week 11

Date
March 14, 2015

Distance
101 miles

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Week 11

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Weather

Ride Report 

I had a 3-day weekend, so I couldn't resist going to Death Valley. My climbing needs some work, so I did some repeats on a nice quiet climb just outside the park. I ended up doing 7 hours worth of repeats, which was just short of 15,000 feet.

I took a long break (I actually fell asleep) and rode the extra miles to hit 100. I needed a ride like this because I'm definitely not in very good shape right now. I felt like I started the day at a conservative pace, but I seemed to hit a wall around the 4-hour mark. My legs were dead by the end of the day, but I went ahead and did 100 miles and 9,500 feet the next day, which ended up being at a snail's pace. But hey, 25,000 feet is a good weekend of training and there's never a bad time in Death Valley. It was the perfect time of year to be there- flowers were blooming and the temperatures were warm but not quite hot yet.

I'm off Thursday and Friday, so I'm going to do a 4-day block of Petoji training from Thursday-Sunday. I'm hoping to average 110/day for those 4 days.

Week 10

Date
March 7, 2015

Distance
102 miles

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Week 10

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 

What a difference a week makes. The temperature jumped about 25 degrees and the weather was fantastic. I took advantage of the warm, sunny skies and did a little climbing. I did 2 laps of Six Mile Canyon plus the Virginia City Truck Route.

Unfortunately, NV 342 is closed until summer and all traffic is being diverted to NV 341 (the truck route). This is bad news because (a) 342 has a nice climb with a steep section that makes for a good test and (b) 341 used to be a super quiet road, but now it has more traffic. 341 is probably my favorite descent in the area, and the low traffic was one of the main reasons why.

Next week could be a big one. Stay tuned.

Week 9

Date
March 1, 2015

Distance
105 miles

Strava Link
Week 9

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 

Saturday was snowy, but the roads were fine by Sunday. I did a simple out-and-back on US 50 just to be sure that I'd have a clear road to ride on the whole way. By the end of the day the snow was only in the mountains.