March | 2017 | Steve Tilford

Yesterday I did the first 100 mile ride of the year. Well, really the first since I cracked my head back last October. I’ve been riding a little more the last couple weeks and feel just okay riding. Yesterday, I felt pretty strong, for 3-5 hours, but don’t have any top end, which is to be expected.

Anyway, I was looking at the power curve on Strava. It compared the current ride you did to all the previous rides. Strava compares the ride yesterday to all of 2017, then I compared it to 2016 and ’15. I was riding alright and the wattage was higher because it was pretty windy, which always adds wattage.

I had the highest numbers of all of 2017 most of the day. But I wasn’t really that bad compared to the best numbers of 2016 or 2015. I was only 10% off those number most of the time, which didn’t seem right.

The power curve of those years is the best number I had on any ride throughout the year. So I was comparing one ride with the best power I did in all of one year, second by second, minute by minute. Nearly all those numbers are in races, for sure. I haven’t raced in months upon months.

I guess my power is good. I went hard yesterday, towards the end of the ride for maybe two miles or so. I felt pretty great, considering I’d ridden 90 something miles already and it was still windy.

I rode most of the day in the wind. There were only three of us, Bill, my brother and me. I sat on for a few miles listening to the end of a disastrous KU game. But other than that, I was mostly pulling.

I noticed, while I was riding, that my heartrate was pretty low, even for me. I only averaged 104 bpm for the whole ride, with an average of 225 watts. I wonder why the wattage is always lower on Strava than on my Garmin, when I finish. I calibrated the power meter before the ride and sometimes again if we stop.

I guess my power is alright. I’m thinking about racing on Sunday at Perry. It is a 35 mile road race on a 5 mile circuit. It has a pretty good climb each lap and is always windy. Probably a better start than a criterium.

If I race, I’ll be interested in the numbers. I can’t imagine I have any race fitness. At least compared to some of the guys around here. If Joseph, Connor, or Alex, from the Elevate team show up, they’ve already been racing for over a month, doing incredible well. Connor won Chico stage race and Alex was raging there too, so they are already in form. I like it when better riders show up at training races. Makes them that more interesting.

The whole ride.

Power compared to all of 2017.

Power compared to 2016.

Power compared to 2015.

Last two weeks.

There is a 100 mile “gravel race” down in Stillwater Oklahoma today. It is called the Landrun 100. I’ve never done the race. I’m not sure I’ll ever do the race. 3 out of the last 4 years, it has rained close to the race day and the course has turned into a mandatory walk for miles. Miles in red dirt that is sticky.

I know a ton of people that are racing today. I’m hoping for the best. I heard that the course was switched up some and that it hasn’t rained there for a long time, so even if the predicted rain comes today, it should be able to hold up better than previously. I’ll cross my fingers for that.

I actually just checked the weather out and it is raining there currently, with the temperatures in the 30’s. Man, what bad luck. It is so hard to stay warm when it is in the 30’s and you are wet. Wet and muddy is a hard thing to persevere through. Best of luck to everyone.

Tucker got neutered a couple days ago. He was a very unhappy camper for a day. I think it was more from anesthesia than from the procedure. He woke up the next morning feeling much, much better. He can run off leash for a couple more days and has so much energy now. He is going a bit stir crazy.

I found a pipe wrench a couple days ago riding. It was too heavy to carry, so I threw it into deep grass by a highway sign and drove out there yesterday and picked it up. It had a bunch of surface rust, but my brother Kris, cleaned it up and it should be fine. It is an 18″ Trimont pipe wrench. It is an antique, which means that it is a nice tool. I’ll make good use of it.

It is supposed to start snowing here in an hour or so. It is in the 30’s, so 30 degrees colder than a couple days ago. The training race today has been cancelled. Hopefully the Perry race will be fine tomorrow. It is only supposed to snow 1 inch and it is supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow, so it should be fine.

Alright, guess I need to get some inside stuff done today. I’ve ridden nearly 400 miles this week already, so if I ride to the race and back, plus racing, it should be enough miles, so I don’t need to worry too much about getting out today.