I don't know if it's my Computrainer spin classes, semi-regular core workouts, or the combination of the two, but my legs felt really good during and after last Saturday's 65-mile ride. Most of the ride was at conversational pace, except for two significant efforts. One was on about two miles of slight uphill of Crow Canyon Road from Castro Valley to San Ramon, where I drove the pace at near time trial effort. It was hard, my heart rate reached 178, but I drove until we turned off onto Norris Canyon Road, where I recovered. But I was willing to continue pushing the pace at a sustained, hard effort and keep going as long as necessary, though I was glad when it was over. The other hard effort was on Glorietta Road in Lafayette, which has a short, nasty steep pitch of 13-14%. I stood up and led my group of four in 36x19 gear. Again, it was hard, but I felt strong enough to climb it aggressively and pushed harder than I may have two months ago. Then, unbeknownst to self, I climbed Pinehurst in 36x19 and was surprised to discover I used that gear when I reached the top. I was tired and sleepy all afternoon and evening, but my legs were relatively fresh.
During the ride, I felt very comfortable climbing standing up, standing longer and riding more aggressively than usual. I attribute this to the Velo SF Computraner classes, during which we do repeated standing intervals of two minutes. After a while these intervals get hard, but it appears they serve me well on the road.
So far, after almost a month of Velo SF I am happy with the results.
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