Something I've wanted to do for years is the annual (13th annual this year) Wolfville-Roubaix bike 'race'. 85km of informal racing, including several km of dirt roads (hence the name), around the Annapolis valley region, starting and ending at the juice factory in Wolfville, NS. Today I finally did it, and it was even better than I had imagined. I had no idea what a great community of cyclists exists in this province - the 67 riders in attendance were friendly, courteous, and generally in good spirits. I've been on a fair number of group rides in the past and in none of them were people so focused on the great things about riding - camaraderie, friendly competition, and just plain fun. For the first hour, everyone from former pro cyclists to people just hoping to make it through rode side by side and chatted, enjoyed the breathtaking scenery in The Valley, and felt generally enjoyed each other's company. It made me keen to get more into the riding scene here; hopefully I'll be able to get into some more races this summer.
After the first 30km, the group split and I got a good taste of where my fitness is at. I stayed with the front group for about 5 minutes before realizing that my top-end speed and speed endurance are basically non-existent. In better news, I did average about 250 watts and 29.6km/h for the 55km/1:50 after the split, so I do have some leftover aerobic capacity. Route/speed/HR data is here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/3926970.
A quick note about my training, in case anyone is interested (is anyone interested? I've always wondered how common is my own intrigue with other people's training) - I made it over 10 hrs of total training this week, which is a good start. The past couple weeks have been about 6 and 8 hours, and I feel like I'm off to a pretty decent start. I've also been enjoying myself immensely - something I was lacking in the final stretch of my full-time racing years. I've a long road ahead of me if I want to be competitive, but it's a road I love to travel.
1 comments:
sweet nutz,
turns out i was at the same race you were. didn't even see ya.
Carson
(Ryan Murry's friend from Calgary)
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