I finally had a chance to do my evening ride again after over a month of century rides, recovery and other events that life likes to put in the way of solid, regular training.I was a little reticent of doing this ride after not doing it for so long. Aside from last weekend, I have hardly climbed any hills over the past six weeks. Most of my training has been paced for distance and endurance over long hours in the saddle as opposed to sprints and high-speed pack riding. I was down with nasal allergies all week and tonight my stomach was queasy. I have a bunch of work that has been stacking up and a million other excuses that I could have used to give it another few days.
I am glad I went. The speed and time was not bad considering the bad traffic hoodoo I was feeling on the road. The traffic was heavy for after 8:30pm and I had a few more close calls than I am used to. You know the kind like when you are cruising down a hill with a car on your left as a "shield car" to protect you from cars that might want to make a left in front of you and then some asshole pulls out in front of you but doesn't accelerate and when you try to avoid them a scooter driving the wrong way down the street comes right at you... you know those days... just bad traffic hoodoo. You can just feel the vibe on the roads and proceed with a bit more caution. There were also slow cars preventing me from opening up on Hsi Tun Rd. near Feng Chia University. Still, when I hit Wen Hsin Rd. I was able to push up the speed between lights. The best part was that I felt like I still had plenty left in the tank and my calves didn't threaten to cramp up. The new cleat position shifted some of the work to my glutes, hips and quads-- away from my calves. I had plenty at the end with traffic the only thing holding me back from maxing out.
Feeling... not bad! I hate this ride as much as I love it.
Distance: 21.4 km.
Average Speed: 28.3kph
Maximum Speed: 62.9kph
Time: 45.16 min.
Conditions: Meadium-Heavy Traffic
