Sandra in the Tour of Bright / For you "papa"

I have just returned from the airport after seeing Sandra off to Melbourne and the Tour of Bright. We have done this race together (2005 and 2006) so to see her going by herself wasn't the best. Even knowing that she will be well looked after by Bruce and Mick, good friends of ours from our time in Cairns, it's always nice to do these racing trips with her.

The Tour of Bright is hard for us as we don't have those types of climbs in Queensland so racing those "mountain-goats" down there is a challenge. Sandra has trained hard for it and has the mental strength to do well in this type of event. All she needs is to race sensibly, trust herself and make sure she stays with the leading group on the fast descents. I know she will do well and hope she has a good time doing what she loves doing - riding her bike.

Can't wait to hear from her.

For you papa...

Last night, Sandra showed me this video and I found it so brilliant that I decided to put it here (as I do) for those that haven't seen it and for those who have but would like to see it again. "It" went really well with Thai last night. Uhm... lunch time soon and I don't have to go to work!

Training

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Not very easy this week but I got on the trainer again and managed to do two high intensity sessions (75 and 90 min) after the easy spin on Monday.

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On Wednesday, I did four high cadence efforts to assist with leg speed (three minutes each with three minutes rest). The cadence was kept at around 135 bpm. These efforts, also put a load on our cardiovascular system as the HR jumps to 80% plus.

For a little boost on my power, yesterday I did intervals at, or close to my lactate threshold (85% of MaxHR). These are hard but feel like the correct exercises for criterium races, where we need lots of those all-out efforts to cope with the surges.

An easy spin later this afternoon and an "cool" weekend with my son. Perhaps a couple of Stellas to keep me that cool.

Safe Racing!