Smartass Camp Day 2- The long ride...

Camp Day 2 here in Las Cruces and it was our first epic day. On the schedule:

4 hour ride (no intervals- just ride) with 20 minute transition run

1 hour swim

I haven't been on a four hour ride since September- but my memories of that are still fresh- A metric century with Daisy Duc in the 50 degree rain. It was painful to say the least. So as I awoke this morning to see the sky clear and the temps already in the mid 50's with a forecasted high of 73 I was stoked to say the least. And to top things off, the wind was predicted to be light.

Score!

We all met over at Paulo's at 8. Judy and I went early so I could set up my water bottles. I had one large and 2 small bottles on the bike with a 2 large bottles in reserve in Paulo's car for the halfway point. I threw 3 gels in pocket and we headed down for our pre-ride briefing.






The air was crisp, but I know from all my rides with Janet, that as long as it's at least 50 in the morning, sleeveless is the way to go. I live in friggin Cleveland, it's not like I'm going to freeze my butt off in 60 degree weather. It feels like a sauna when it hits 70.

So off we went heading on a twisty turny ride lead by Jonny out to our main road for today's ride. It was a bit confusing, but we made it. However, we soon realized one thing... about that calm day?... Yeah, um... not so much. The wind. was. brutal.

Once we got to the main road it was Judy and Khai and I and we decided that if we were going to make it back in one piece we had to share the work on the way out. So every 8-10 minutes we rotated who had to pull the group. Want an idea of how windy it was? We were going 16 miles per hour. When I was in the lead my HR was about 170. As soon as I fell to the back in the draft, my HR fell to 130. It was crazy. And it didn't get any easier. At about 1:55, just before our turnaround we hit a hill and a HUGE wind. Judy's powermeter hit 291 watts and we were going 14 mph. damn. When we came up upon 2 hours, Paulo was like an oasis! Eureka! We can turn around! We got to him, haggard, worn out, and what did he say?

Hurry up- this isn't a rest stop- GO- Keep going to 2:15 before you turn around because your return trip will be faster

I'm afraid that if looks could kill, Smartasscoach would have seen his last day today. So we went ahead. It was my turn to pull (dammit) and we moved on. The winds picked up some more, and we came upon 2:15 what seemed like 45 minutes later. OK, let's see what this wind can do.

Well... now I know how it feels to be a pro. I haven't had that much fun on a ride. Ever! As SOON as we turned around we hit 25 mph and never looked back. At one point we were going 28 mph with our heart rates steady Zone 2. And the crazy thing was- no wind. None. Know what that means? We battled 28 mph winds for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Talk about mental toughness. Sheesh.

The entire time on our main road we held over 20 mph and we were feeling fresh. Our spirits were high. We were triumphant. Until....

Hmmmmm...

What was the name of that road again? Uh oh. This is not going to be good for our speed limit average. Ok, so I'm not exactly good with directions. Or really direction, for that matter. I'm lucky I know which way is up most times. So we got horribly lost for about 10 minutes before we just went on faith and turned down a road that looked kind of right... and let me tell you- it's not the attitude you want to have when you are 3 hours and 30 minutes into a ride. But alas- we made it.

Back to Paulo's in almost exactly 4 hours with getting lost and stopping at a ton of stoplights in the last 2 miles.

Total mileage 71 bike- 2.1 transition run

What triathletes look like after a workout like this:








I think we ended up with about 18 mph average if you don't count our getting lost and stopping at lights. Not too shabby when you have a 28 mph wind to contend with. A short transition run of 2.1 miles and we were on for the third event of the day...

lunch!

I consumed more calories in one sitting than is really safe or necessary. A 9 inch turkey/bacon/avacado sandwich. One tip for the vegans out there that go back to the land of the carnivore. Don't try this at home. Please. I got to do a 3000 meter swim workout with about 4 liters of gas in my stomach. Damn, I was buoyant.

One last thing... We did the best swim set ever tonight.

20 x 50

5-6 people per lane

All leaving at the same time

There were elbows and fists and waves and...

I loved every minute of it. It's called- triathlon swim.

Day 3 starts at 8am in the pool, so it's time to get some Zzzzssss.