Noontime Great Hill Repeats in Central Park
Noontime Great Hill Repeats in Central Park
Come on global warming!! OK, of course I’m joking, but today was something exceptional. It was 17 degrees at noon on a beautiful day in February.
On packing up my bike last week in Cape Town, I was almost sure that the next time I would be riding outdoors would be when I returned there four weeks later. February is usually the worst month for trying to get outdoors and, with my new Tacx indoor riding setup, I figured I would set up my bike in the trainer and only take it apart to box it back up for the trip to race the Argus.
But, these last few days have been way outside of normal temperatures for New York
Well, you take ‘em as you get ‘em. And today was a taker.
Here is the GarminConnect data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/2081659
[embedded widget removed: MotionBased Activity Viewport]
Four loops of Central Park, pushing on each of the climbs and trying to climb at more than 90 rpm and staying faster than 27 kmph. Now, with twenty-four days to the race, these short, sharp climbs at more than 90% of maximum effort are just the thing. Today, on the first climb, I actually hit 179 bpm, which according to the HRMax method of calculating your maximum heart rate (220-age… or, in my case 220-55=165) is 14 beats over maximum. At some point, I’m going to calculate the target heart rate using the Karvonen method, which is based on the resting heart rate, which will most certainly give me another figure since my resting HR is somewhere in the low 50s.
Anyway, from what I have learned over the years about training and preparing for big events, there is very little that you can do in the last three weeks (21 days) before an event that can help you, particularly when it comes to improvement in cardiovascular fitness, increasing mitochondria and improving the efficiency of the Krebs Cycle. The effects/benefits of intense training take about three weeks to actually show up, so this week is key for these killer workouts. Then, next week, the taper begins.
The good news from South Africa is that the Chappies route will be open. Cycle Tour writes:
Yes, we're going over Chappies![image unavailable: 1chapmans.jpg - image missing from source archive]
The Cycle Tour's route has certainly been at the centre of attention over the last month.
There has been much speculation about how the road works along Muizenberg's Main Road, the construction of the Green Point Stadium and of course the closure of Chapman's Peak will affect the event.
Following high level meetings, we are very pleased to announce that Chapman's Peak will be open on Race Day Sunday. We are comfortable that the safety of cyclists, which is clearly our primary concern, will not be compromised and are delighted that this iconic part of the route will be enjoyed again this year.
David Bellairs confirmed that opening the route will be subject to certain conditions and it is hoped that weather conditions will be good on the day.
This is, without doubt, one of the coolest parts of the race. Here is a photo from my climb up Chappies in 2008:
