Having thoroughly buggered up my left knee on Stage 3, I have been forced to rein in the ambition for Stage 4… and maybe a bit beyond yet, I’m not sure.
Going into this one, I had done no recon, no reading into what was ahead. So I was surprised, very much so actually, to find out today’s route took us up Box Hill. It seems we can’t escape the hills, even on the shorter ride variants. Those meanies at Zwift HQ sure have done a number of us this time around.
What I did today was set the target power on the Garmin Edge 530 to see if I could somehow use ERG mode to stick around the 175w range for the whole ride:
Setting Target Power
- Select Menu > Training > Indoor Trainer > Set Target Power.
- Set the target power value.
- Select an activity profile.
- Select to start the activity timer.The resistance force applied by the trainer is adjusted to maintain a constant power output based on your speed.
- If necessary, select > Set Target Power to adjust the target power during your activity.
Them’s the instructions I followed.
Absolutely no idea if that worked or not.
But I did stick, fairly closely, to the 175w range. Even on the hills.
What I found today was that I was suffering as and when the resistance increased. Maybe I ought to turn the trainer difficulty down to 0% – not sure if that would help or not.
Equally, if I did the harder efforts out of the saddle, things felt much less painful. Not sure why, or how, but it was useful particularly on the escalator sections.
Fairly unintentionally I did complete two laps of the circuit today. We were on the London Loop, so that meant two trips up Box Hill. But as I was taking them at a really relaxed pace, I don’t think I ever saw my heart rate above 140bpm for any length of time, which is pretty nuts for a route that saw 400m of total climb.
I’m glad I didn’t opt for the Surrey Hills / Longer route. Not so much because I don’t think I would have finished, but rather I think I would… but it would have taken >2 hours.
Anyway, it’s a box ticked. I am hoping to do the Stage 4 Longer ride as a make up stage. But if Stage 5 is also not feasible as a Longer ride, I’m going to just do my best to get through it however I can. Right now I’m less concerned about ticking off all the stages than I am about getting back to normal as quickly as possible. If that means a couple of weeks of recovery rides, so be it.
