Sugarloaf Mountain as seen from intersection of Comus Road and Peach Tree Road.
Remember the "Epic Mini Series" on network television in the 70s and 80s? "Roots" was the standard bearer... followed by "The Thorn Birds", "Centenniel", "North and South", "Holocaust" and "Shogun". My Ironman training has had its own Mini Series... a series of rides from Capitol Hill to Sugarloaf Mountain and back.
Yesterday was my first 100 mile ride of this season. The longest I had gone was the Tour de Cure... a 67.5 mile ride. Training buddies KDOG and Chad had picked the ride... from their place on Capitol Hill to Sugarloaf Mountain and back. We did this ride six times last year, each with its own story associated with the ride. Yesterday's ride was no different.
I went into the ride with some trepidation. 1. It is still early in my training season... six weeks ago I was riding my beater bike on the jogging path. 2. The group on this ride is fast... KDOG and Chad to begin with... but I knew Joe Coyne was coming and he is at peak training condition for his second IMUSA... and it was likely Eric Goetz and Philip Schmidt, world record holders for Race Across America (Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD... on a bike) would be out there with us. 3. The Sugarloaf Mountain ride is no joke. The course is hard... it's not Deep Creek Lake hard... but it's probably as hard as you can get from DC to points west within 50 miles. It doesn't help that we try to include all the tough hills on the way out.
I figured I could relieve some of my stress by crashing Friday night at Chez Louieee. Chad and I watched a stage of the Tour de Giro (up Mt. Vesuvius!) and had lights out about 11 pm. I woke up at 5:30 am and started getting ready. I had forgotten my heart rate monitor strap and borrowed one from KDOG. We clipped in before 7 am. Laurel and Philip were waiting outside the house. We rode over to the Capitol and waited for the rest of the group. Sure enough, there is Eric and Joe. We head down to Georgetown and then pick up some more riders. At least a dozen in all.
So, we're heading out MacArthur and the group gets separated into three packs... I'm in the last pack at the lead. I think I can bridge to the second group and pick up the pace. We're going along... but I ain't getting any closer. I look at my computer and I see I'm going 26.5 mph and my HR is 165 bpm! And, it's mile 11 of a 100 mile ride! I'm thinking, "this is unsustainable and I'm not playing along"... I pull up a little and the people behind me (led by KDOG) pass by and bridge up to the second group. I slow down to 21 mph (ha!) and see them disappear ahead of me. Everyone is red lining. Everyone but me, now.
So, I pretty much took it easy the rest of the ride. At the T, only six of us went on to Sugarloaf... Joe, KDOG, Chad and I. Two other people I've never ridden with go along. The guy was fast... the girl was not as fast as me. It was a beautiful day and I took a few pix along the way. Though I wasn't as fast as I wanted to be... I didn't have any problems on the hills, nailed my nutrition and quite frankly, enjoyed myself.
I can't wait to do it again... though give me a few weeks until the next episode!
TJ at Potomac Overlook at top of Sugarloaf Mountain.
-- TJ
No comments:
Post a Comment