Torrey Pines Time Trail

Thursday...one needs to set base lines in order to see where they are today and if they want to improve how far it is to that next goal. Last night we met at the base of Torrey Pines but instead of hill repeats we did a Time Trail (TT) to set our base lines

What's a Time Trail? A Time Trail is a set distance you ride by yourself. They call it the ride of truth because you no longer have someone to draft off of.

There are several types of Time Trails from long, 50 plus miles, to short 1 to 25 miles. Last night was short TT but with the added element of a hill and an average grade of 4%.

Torrey Pines in not that long a ride from the stop sign at the bottom to the flashing light at the top, 1.45 miles. But the difference is your output. On a flat course I could ride that distance at 30 MPH. However, going up hill, depending on the grade, I can only hold 10 to 12 MPH.

So what was my time....6:55. That was very respectable. The fastest was 6:12 and the next fastest 6:30. Most casual weekend warriors will cover this in 8to 12 minutes.

I was totally spent at the top. My lungs were burning and even this morning taking a deep breath I can still feel it. Some of this discomfort may also be from the Chemo Therapy I had with the cancer treatment 15 years ago. The drugs they use will often damage your lungs and thus one of the reasons Lance Armstrong took a different approach to his treatment.

Some riders are better suited for climbing and others for flats or sprinting. At 5'11" and 190 pounds, I'm an OK climber but much better sprinter and flat road pacer. Good climbers are in the 120 to 140 pound range. So I can improve if I can drop down to 180 or 175 which will cause my power to weight ratio to go up if I gain muscle and loose fat. I'm at 16% fat now and should be able to take that 12 % over 3 or 4 months. There are tools on the Internet to assist with some calculations of Power to Weight.

So, now that I know where I'm at and my goal is to get to 6:30 TT up Torrey, I can put together a road map on dropping 10 pounds as a good start but my Wattage output will need to increase from 320 to 335. I'm still researching the best way to increase my power output but it will take time to get there. It's like lifting weights...big muscles don't happen after one session in the gym.

Goals are what make me improve and now that I have a base and a goal I can start working on how to accomplish that. Isn't life cool?