Suddenly Sun

Worked a bit too late today. Almost got to the point where I didn’t want to ride as I was feeling too tired and lazy. However a quick glance out of the window and it was a sight I haven’t seen for a good few days at this point: sunshine.

Checking the forecast I could see the next two hours would be 19c, more than suitable for a jolly out into the country. And so, with a bit of kerfuffle, out I went.

The route I chose today was a reverse route of one I did the other morning, though I have to say it was definitely a more pleasent day the other day. Today was a tad windy, but certainly more than good enough to get outdoors. And I wasn’t alone. There were plenty of fellow cyclists out and about on the country run.

Today’s route was around 30km, which I hoped would take me about an hour. Whilst I didn’t go out with a specific workout in mind, I found a natural rhythm – particularly early on – of around 200-250w. Whilst unsustainable for the entire ride, I planned to put in a solid effort for the first half of the ride, and then take it a bit easier on the second half.

The reasoning for this is that the first 17.5km of this route is up hill. And the last half is largely all down hill. It’s nice to know this heading out, as I can keep an eye on the Garmin and know when the hard part is done.

Even though I’d only just done this ride, doing it backwards / in reverse felt largely very different. Which is always nice. I definitely prefer new routes to riding the same thing over and over (cough, Zwift, cough).

By the time I’d completed the circuit I was feeling decent, but ready for a rest. I’m still suffering – particularly post-ride – from a very sore right shoulder. This happens almost every time I go out, but never indoors. And it all stems back to when I fell off the bike a few months back. Sad times.

It’s kinda crazy that today’s ride comes up as a significantly higher TSS score versus yesterday’s turbo session. If anything, the SST session felt harder than this one. And with only 15 minutes difference, the calorie differences were huge, too. 800+ today, and ~600 yesterday.

I have no idea what the weather has in store for us tomorrow. I’m expecting rain. I’m sure the 10 day forecast had rain all week, last time I checked. But if I can get out, I will. If not, it will be a recovery ride, almost certainly. There are some new routes opening on Zwift this weekend (I believe), so I would quite like to be fairly fresh for that.

Until then!

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