Not a whole lot of interesting stuff going on right now. I dedicated a good portion of my weekend to training/recovery with a side of Superbowl party.

Saturday was power testing day. That was tough, of course, and I followed it with another two hours or so of aerobic-intensity high-cadence riding (well, cadence >90rpms… which is high for me). I think that the cadence work was harder on me than the power tests. I felt exhausted when I got back home, though it wouldn’t have been so bad if my back & neck hadn’t started to hurt during the last hour of my ride. I had my Specialized Ruby saddle on my bike and was painfully reminded that I’d taken it off because it’s too darn flexible. Shifting around and trying to avoid the discomfort in my butt/low back caused by the saddle really irritated my neck. So, when I got home, I took to the whirlpool tub and felt somewhat better. The remainder of the evening was pretty low-key… some homemade pizza, a small glass of Boulevard “Long Strange Tripel” Ale (Ryan drank most of it… I just wanted to get a taste), and general relaxation.

Sunday morning, Ryan and I did our usual ride- Cordova to the Outdoors Store on Union, where we meet with a group and ride to Shelby Forest, then back. My legs felt like hell from the previous day’s ride. I was pretty surprised considering last Sunday my legs felt pretty awesome following Southern X. Even so, we rode in faster than usual. Once we met up with the group it was apparent that they’re catching wind of race season… as noted by the “spirited” pace. I obliged for part of the way- chasing down a couple of attacks and taking a hard pull or two, but then ended up splitting off from the group just before the “every man for himself” point in order to ride my own tempo up to the rest stop (not an easy tempo by any means… just not a pop & drop tempo!)
After the stop, somehow Ryan and I got separated from the group. We turned onto Watkins (~5 mile rolling 4-lane stretch of road) and looked back, only to find that the group was nowhere in sight. We figured they’d catch on, so we kept on going… only to look back a minute later & see that they were pretty far back. I knew that based on the guys in the group that they’d be chasing us down, so I told Ryan to pull me, and when they caught on, I’d counter. It didn’t quite work that way, because they ended up not catching up to us until near the “sprint point” at the end of the road, and they started to blow by us rather than take a wheel… it still worked out wonderfully, though. I’d been sitting in while they’d been chasing at a faster pace, so I grabbed the last wheel of the echelon, took a couple of breaths, then launched into the sprint. There was a bit of commotion as I passed the group, but (unlike other times I sprint with the guys) no one came around me before the unofficial “finish line.” Yay for strategy and group ride glory!!!! Bike racing is all about learning to kick people when they’re down…
Once we split from the group, the ride back was just as hard as the ride in. We kept the pace going most of the way back (I also “won” my second sprint of the day when we reached the Germantown city limits sign). I wasn’t as achy after the ride (saddle change!), but my neck was (still is) feeling not-so-hot.

Afterward was a Superbowl party. I had a little junk food, of course, and almost fell asleep during the game, but it was a good weekend wrap-up nonetheless. I’m pretty shot today. My legs feel like I rode harder than I did, and I’ve got to find a chiropractor to work on my neck before it becomes more than just an annoying ache. If any of my local readers know who is good, please share…