Let your endurance come to the rescue

 Not flat endurance ride (https://www.unbiciorejon.com/2019/02/javiers-ride-classification-criteria.html).

I’ll admit I was worried about this ride. I knew I was the weakest rider of the group. That, when you are going to ride all the way to Brighton and back, is tricky.

I suspected Seb would put the hammer down from the get go and I feared I was going to be dropped early in the ride. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened to me. 

So I had a plan. A coffee at home to make it easier for me to react to the initial intensity. Total focus on energy conservation the first part of the ride. Let my endurance come to the rescue as the ride goes.

I have to say I executed the plan to perfection. You can bet I had a coffee at home. The first part of the ride I was so focused on holding the wheel in front of me and saving energy that I think everyone that was riding next to me thought I was being rude. Didn’t say a single word. Talking consumes energy. As the ride progressed my endurance helped to make it “easier”. Did a decent climb up Ditchling Beacon and felt surprisingly well up Devil’s Dyke, always challenging for me as it comes straight after the coffee stop, although pasteis de nata, a bolo de arroz and a large latte at the stop might have helped (yes, two cakes at the stop, can’t say I’m on a diet). 

Once we passed Devil’s Dyke I knew I was going to be alright. In my view that is the best part of the route but it can also become hell very quickly if legs don’t hold. Luckily for me the pace slowed a little bit and my legs weren’t that bad. I started to properly enjoy the ride. 

That was the moment Declan joined us. He did very well sitting in the front keeping a reasonable pace for the group. Well, him and Alice. Alice did a fantastic ride today, not only she smashed it in the climbs but also, as always, sat in the front for kilometres to end. Really impressive. Sitting on their wheel felt fast but comfortable.

Juniper’s climb went well until Declan moved to the front, the pace went up ever so slightly and that was enough to drop me close to the top. Still I’m happy with my effort. Better time up Juniper than most of my KW 2 Hills evening rides, considering I had 150km in the legs I won’t complain.

The Horton approach was a bit messy. Attacks, red traffic lights, stopping at two roundabouts, not a steady approach. I knew Declan’s wheel was the right one so when he started the sprint I tried to follow. He took it by a country mile, obviously, but I managed to get second. Pretty happy with that sprint despite numbers not being anything special (600w for 20 seconds).

About numbers… I suspect this power meter (Quarq) measures a bit higher than the one I have in the other bike (Power2Max). That bothers my slight OCD and the data geek in me but today was quite convenient, it gave me a huge morale boost every time I look at my power. Yes, I lie to myself that easily. 

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/5388597338/

Take care

Javier Arias González