Oct 07, 2023

CRACKING THE CODE EVEN MORE

I'M STILL THIRSTY. 80 miles and 6000+ feet of climbing will do that, especially with the Wahoo-exaggerated 111* max temp. We could have turned around early...

... before climbing 2000' up Blackstar.

Not our style.

We wanted to hit the gravel climb on gravel bikes and see what kind of times we could show vs our MTB times.

Before I get to that,
I think I've cracked the code to gravel's popularity.

At least part of it.

On this ride were a bunch of my friends.
Road friends who know each other,
mixing with MTB friends...

... and all of us making new friends.

Where roadies would rarely ride dirt
and MTBrs rarely get on the road...

... gravel is a convergent.

A place to learn new skills,
and more importantly,
make new friends.

So, how'd that big climb go?

I PR'd all the steep stuff, and would have easily PR'd the entire climb if we weren't taking it so easy the first 2 miles.

Was it just the bike?

Youtellme.

We'd already ridden 2 hours when we got to the climb, not at a blistering pace just a good endurance clip.

I'd been up it before on a gravel bike, but under different conditions and with a little different set up.

I can't say enough about the 45s with 30ish pounds of pressure.
They are just really fast, and shock absorbing.

But, my training is also a lot different.

The last 18 months I've really committed to Zone 2 almost all the time, with some explosive group riding twice a week.

Lots and lots of endurance miles.

Plus, all the leg workouts I do, almost daily, for strength.
I don't care about muscle size...

... strength, wirydude strength, comes from near daily resistance training.

Not blowing the legs out twice a week in the weight room, which is so typical and traditional for body builders and "lets get strong this offseason" bike racers.

Bro, Why don't you want to be strong year round?

Right?!

Check it out, I'm updating my 10-Week Challenge for 2024, and creating...

... The 30-Day Rip On RaceDay Transformational Sprint.

https://pedalindustries.com/pages/30-day-rip-on-raceday-transformation