Simulated Starts

Despite the windy conditions, I went out over lunch to practice some starts. As stated in an earlier post there is a gradual hill about a 10-15 minute ride from work that I use to practice on. I rode at a measly 12 mph into the 30 mph headwind and arrived almost 20 minutes later, a good warm-up. I lined up at the base of the hill and put the chain into the large ring in front. After a short rest, I simulated a count down from 30 seconds and sprinted off the line standing. On the first attempt I got about 1/3rd of the way up the hill before I completely gave up. I don't know if it was the wind playing with my mind or the legs still being dead from Sunday's race. Either way I was very disappointed, so after a short spin I kicked it again and managed to push fairly hard until the top of the hill and onto the flat section. I turned around and spun back to the bottom of the hill. The second attempt went better than the first, I probably needed to open up the legs and lungs a little for the high effort. This time I managed to sprint longer while standing and maintain a higher pace after I settled back onto the saddle. I think my HR reached 184 this time (not as high as I would like). I was running short on time so on the final attempt I just sprinted halfway up the hill and finished by pushing hard in the saddle to the top before turning around.

Not a bad workout but definitely an indication that my anaerobic abilities are not there yet. I will continue to work on these and track my progress. On a more positive note; my overall endurance is quite good as I am able to sustain reasonable race speeds in the expert class.