Sunday bunch ride and training week 11

We finished the week on Sunday with a 100+ km ride to Dayboro and the 7 km climb to Ocean View (Mt Mee road). Another early start to make it to our meeting point at 6:30 am. We almost made it on time...

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Ferny-Grove-to-Dayboro-return-loop

At the bottom of the Samford Range, we met Petrina, Mark and Shane. Soon after, Donna and David arrived and with Sandra, Daniel and I the group started our Easy ride up the range, then Samford and to Dayboro. As we normally ride, lots of chatting and laughing for the first few kms. This time, clothing and David's new bike were the main topics. With Mark's mechanical knowledge and help, David finished building the bike a few hours before we started the ride... And there it was, with everything Record. It looked fantastic and David had the biggest smile of all. Wonder why?


Back to the ride, for the first time this year I was wearing my arm warmers and a vest. A good decision as descending on the other side of the range at that time of the morning can be a little cool. The descend is just under three kms long and has a nice gradient, allowing us to reach 50 to 60 km/h without trying... Nice! Then, the undulating road to Dayboro, about 26 kms of a rough surfaced road through the Samson Valley, a very scenic part of Brisbane's country side.


It took us under an hour, which is a good time as we slowed down a couple of times to wait for the slower members of the bunch. A quick stop at the township of Dayboro and off we went on what I consider one of my favourite climbs. It has the perfect gradient to be ridden on the saddle and at tempo, hence a chance to stay in E1 and E2 for the whole time. Well, that's what I planned and how I rode for the first half. For the second part, I changed my mind and decided to push harder to catch a couple of riders up the road and get an idea of how my climbing is at the moment. Climbing hasn't been part of my programs, except for the short hill repeats.


I let one of the riders go and went off a minute later trying to catch him before the top. I don't know how much he was pushing but I did manage to pass him with about 300 or 400 m to our stop. I was climbing comfortably with a HR around 165 bpm (85%), which is higher than what it was this time last year. Happy with my ride!


We waited for the rest of the group at Ocean View and to top up on the effort of the climb, and to stay warm, a few of us ventured up the side street which is a 500m climb at 18%, 167 bpm for me. After a few laughs and photos taken we started the "race" down hill and to the coffee shop. Again, happy to have arm warmers and a vest on. As my descending skills are a little poor, I just followed the guys for most of the time and then put my foot down with a couple of kms to go and as the road got flatter... and managed to stay away.


Have to mention David's great effort on making to the top for the first time, it must have been a Record.


Time for coffee, snacks, bathroom stops, and a chat on the ride so far. Also, have to mention Donna's bike-ride-break-snack: a steak pie!!! How does she manage to eat that, before 9 in the morning? Her reply was that it has been a tradition.... I know she has been riding for a long time but I didn't dare ask how long the tradition has been going for... It was an easy ride back for the first 15 kms, except for Sandra and Shane who decided they needed a little more of a workout. Another short stop at Samford Village then over the range again and home.

Total: 104 kms; Av. speed: 26.7 km/h; and Av. HR: 121 bpm

Week 11 starts

Monday was another easy recovery ride, again with John and Stephen, through some new country roads at Samford Valley. A relatively flat ride, highlighted by a very fast stretch of road starting at Mt O'Reilly Road, along Gibbons Road and finishing at Mt Samson Road. I sat on Stephen's wheel for a few kms as he grinded those cranks at 50 km/h. Dream run!!

Time: 2:09; Distance: 52.8 kms; Av. speed: 24.5 km/h; Max. speed: 62.9 km/h; Av. HR: 106 bpm and Max HR: ?

Today was back with Hill Repeats, this time a little different. I still had to do the 4 X 3 min efforts but this time with higher cadence (85-95 rpm), on and off the saddle and a gear that suited the climb. Again, the three of us headed to Clear Mountain road, a choice that proved not to be the best one (I will listen to John next time). It was too steep, only allowing me to turn a 39x25 at 65 rpm for the last two repeats. It was incredibly painful! On the last one, I had John and Stephen waiting near the top to encourage me to finish. It made a big difference as I managed to reach the furthest point of the four repeats. Good news! The bad news, I had forgotten that the road kept going up after that with two equally steep sections, one with a 20% sign posted on the side of the road.

Time: 2:25; Distance: 61.7 kms; Av. speed: 24 km/h; Max. speed: 82.2 km/h; Av. HR: 120 bpm and Max HR: 165 bpm

Coffee and french pastry at a french patisserie was the reward at the end.