Well, this has been a long day. I had some pipe dreams of completing a century ride today, but I ended up having neither the stamina nor the time to see it through. I did get to answer the question as to how much fitness I have lost due to recent illness: about 20 to 30w I’d say. Of course that’s not scientific, and my max effort rides have always taken place on a climb, but I definitely felt down on previous fitness levels and pace.
My plan was to get on the bike at 9.30am. I was off today due to my granddad’s funeral at 1pm. I figured I’d get two hours in before I’d need to jump off and get ready. Of course I’d gotten prepared last night, but I’d still need to shower, shave, and eat… And calm down before leaving the house. I didn’t want to be rushing.
A bit of mental arithmetic told me my plans for a 2hr century were ambitious at best, and completely unrealistic back in the real world. I’d need to average 50kph. So, errr, lol?
As it was I managed 36kph for the first hour. Now, this is a Zwift speed. No wind. No terrible road surface. A good number of fellow virtual cyclists to draft behind. In other words, ideal conditions and not a very representative comparison to what I could hope to achieve outdoors. And speaking of outdoors, I did briefly consider heading outdoors instead of doing a turbo session. But frankly the cold, wet weather was enough to sway me back to the lovely warm computer room.
I opted for Zwift’s Tick Tock route for this one. It’s flat enough, with just 44m of climb per 16.8km lap. I briefly toyed with the idea of turning off and attacking the Epic KOM whilst on my third lap. I decided against it as I was already pushing myself hard enough with this one given my lack of fitness as per above. No regrets there.
What I will say is I am absolutely knackered as I type this.
I did this ride this morning at 9:30-11:30, and as I sit here writing this it’s 9pm. It’s been a long day, and tomorrow I’m back at work. No doubt about it, tomorrow will be a 30 minute recovery ride only. I would, again, very likely skip tomorrow were it not for my Advent of Cycling commitment.
One thing I have realised is that I should be coming up on my Zwift’s Unemployed badge any on the 14th. LOL. That’s one I never thought I’d get.
In truth I think riding every day is actually a really bad idea. Rest days are super important. But this is a “one off” event for me, so I’m not dwelling on that side of things.
OK, I’m outta here.
