I’d left off August thinking September would be shorter, more intense riding for my alone riding. I figure this will be a good plan to deal with the heat. Get out there early and not stay too long. First ride to the month, I did what I will now call my “Parlor Doughnut Loop”. A nice 80+ kilometer with some good punchy hills to keep me sweaty out there in the nearly 90°F heat. The breeze as I got close to the ocean was almost chilly. Quite nice to feel after the ride through the Mission Viejo heat.
The Silva electric pump was delivered shortly after my return home.
Very nice piece of kit.
I’ve ended the second week of September feeling pretty good. I spent my four days riding hilly routes and working to hit some of the short climbs pretty hard. The little stinger up to Scenic above Dana Point Harbor in particular, I chopped a lot of time off my PR there. I need to add some serious mileage through the end of the month to push this month up to at least 1,000 kilometers. I am hoping to hit my year’s goal of 12,000 kilometers before the end of the month. Oggy and I have done some more wiggle-wagon rides with the tag-along. He really enjoys the riding. I think it won’t be too long and he will be ready for a real bicycle, though I’m not sure any of us are ready for that.
The heatwave has abates enough to be near chilly overnight. We have even had almost rain looking skies. Big puffy clouds blocking out the sun on my rides, making for some shade has been very welcome.
Week three I managed four metric centuries, three of them in a row. I got my vaccinations updated. And with a rest day to start off the last full week of the month, I will rotate the tires front to back as it has been a thousand miles since. This week nailed nearly 500 kilometers or a little over 300 miles. The last ride of the week being a group ride with the club for the La Pata climb. I took it easy on the climb staying in zone 2 most of the time and managed to do a pretty good easy ride with 51% spent in zone 1 and 45% in zone 2. And yes, during the week there was a doughnut ride. I made a metric out of the loop.
I even rode a canyon I rarely ride.
I finished off September with a rest day. The day before, I had intended at least a metric century, but the legs were not having any of it. I cut that ride short. Once home I realized I’d never broken out of zone two and the majority of my time had been spent in zone one. I had met my year’s distance goal of 12,000 km the previous week. I need a rest day to get some energy back. I’m happy with my progress so far this year. This has been a very good year for riding and diet and my health.
I have begun thinking about my cycling goals for next year. I want to focus more on training and specifically the areas where I’m weak. I have pretty good endurance, but need to climb more and work on power. Add some finer detail to my diet too. And yes, the upper body gym thing needs attention. As I work all that out into a plan over the next few months I’ll finally get it down on virtual paper for me new year not so much resolution, but plan and goals for the new year.
Totals for the month:
Distance: 1,565.3 km
Climbing: 12,055 m
Time: 62:52
Along The Way 