Sunday's workout: Find a steep pitch, then do 3 minutes intervals up that steep pitch. OK, so I head down towards Loveland and picked Pole Hill Rd to get my climb on. The total climb is roughly 3 miles up towards those radio towers before it drops...then turns to gravel for the climb to Estes Park. I was only using about 3/4 miles of the total climb. This road is perfect. The grade is about 8-9%, the road is smooth, and the car traffic is low. People traffic is another story. During my intervals, I bet I passed or met 9 other cyclist. Just about all of them had that "what the hell are you doing" look as they rode by. Here is looking down via Google maps.
Climb....recover. Climb....recover. Climb....recover. Climb....recover. Climb....recover. Climb....recover. Climb....recover. Climb....recover.
I needed this workout today. Most of my "A" races for the year have a good chunk of climbing...and today I added a layer onto the climbing building process.
Here are the numbers for the climbing intervals. Only 8 total intervals...but by the last one I was standing more that I was sitting. I feel I am climbing better now than I did overall the last 2 years. Sea Otter XC should be an excellent test, as the mountain bike course has its share of grades.Time to continue with the climbing theme and chill out and relax while watch the Ronde van Vlaanderen on VS.