This past Saturday was the 90 minute Indoor Training Ride at Penn Cycle. The 3 major ride goals included the following:
- Enjoy a challenging, realistic and fun ride.
- Raise money for Breast Cancer Research for my friend (and World Champion Log Roller and Boom Runner), Jenny Atkinson, who was recently diagnosed. Read more about Jenny here: http://www.jennyatkinson.com/
- Enjoy some wine, beer, food and each others’ company after the ride.
Did we accomplish these goals? Absolutely!
The ride was great. It was broken into 3 sections: The warmup and skills portion, then 2 race simulations, each taken from one of the race courses in the Nature Valley Grand Prix stage race (http://www.minnbikefestival.com/).
Warmup: 25 minutes consisting of general warmup and single leg pedal drills
Race Simulation 1: Mankato Road Race Finishing Circuit (http://www.mapmyride.com/view_route?r=848126848947216353) Be sure to click on the “Elevation Chart” in the Info Box on the right hand side of the screen. The race sim included the following:
- 3 minute steep climb (big gear, low cadence)
- :15 descent (recovery)
- 1:30 flat road (high cadence, fast pace)
- :15 descent
- 1 minute flat road
- :15 descent
Each “circuit” took 6:15 to complete. We rode 4 circuits for a total of 25 minutes. This was followed by a 5 minute easy spin recovery before taking on the next race simulation, which was:
Race Simulation 2: Stillwater Criterium(called “The Hardest Criterium in the country” because of the short-but-steep Chilkoot Hill and its 25% grade). http://www.mapmyride.com/view_route?r=365126849065080720. (Again, click on the elevation chart). This part of the ride included:
- 1:30 steep climb in an extremely hard gear (low cadence, a very muscular interval)
- :15 descent
- 1:00 flat
- 1:00 gentle climb
- :15 descent
- :30 flat (high power, high speed)
- :30 descent
Each “lap” on the Stillwater course took 5 minutes. We rode 6 laps for a total race effort of 30 minutes, then finished up with an easy cooldown spin then stretch.
This was a tough, yet very realistic ride. Frequent power changes and cadence changes, combined with a very limited amout of rest, made it feel like an actual race. In addition, the time went fast.
Here’s the ride recap, based on data from my power meter:
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/N3CARMGUJOWL3JZN7VHP2INADU
If you weren’t there, well, you should have been. But you can perform this ride on your own. Add your comments or questions below, then GET OUT AND RIDE!
