London-Brighton-London

The picture is not from today's ride but it works well to illustrate the post

 “I’m exceptionally keen for a chatty k2 pace” said the ride organizer.

And I was exceptionally happy with that approach. As soon as the pace as agreed I started to plan in my head my assault at my PR at Ditchling Beacon, 5:46 on 15th of June 2018 (https://www.strava.com/activities/1639823822/segments/41070478301), more than 5 years ago.

In that ride I had also targeted a PR at Ditchling Beacon. I had a very simple strategy. Ride easy all the way to Ditchling and give it all at the climb. And I did it. PR by 26 seconds!!! From 6:12 to 5:46.

A “chatty k2 pace” was my opportunity to repeat that strategy. 

Unfortunately for me it didn’t work. I did 5:53 (https://www.strava.com/activities/9949387676/segments/3143200626457728218). 7 seconds too slow. 

To make it worse I was beaten at the KOM by Sep Kuss.

The funny thing is I didn’t know it at the time. In fact I was convinced I had beaten my PR.

I was so happy with my performance that I didn’t care I didn't take Juniper’s KOM or Horton’s sprint despite having great legs. 

I’m not that happy now. 

I could be sillier but I’d need to train for it.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9949387676

Take care 

Javier Arias Gonzalez

Dreaming

 I knew I had done a good climb up to Green Dene (https://www.strava.com/segments/886772).

You kind of know that when you see yourself a handful of seconds behind Dani, Robbie, Creme Brulé and Dai.

But I didn’t expect to improve my PR by 21 seconds (from 5:14 to 4:53), especially considering I wasn’t on fresh legs.

Before I get too excited I have to admit I was sitting on the group wheels. For as long as I managed to stay in their wheel anyway. Also, looking at power numbers it feels to me we were assisted with a bit of tail wind. 

In any case, I'm very happy with it.

The problem was that my legs noticed the effort. Not the best news considering the pace was punchy at times and I wasn’t sure how the rest of the route looked like and how far the coffee stop was.

We eventually got to Seale and that was my opportunity to get coffee and a scone; plain, with jam and cream. My weapon of choice when urgent recovery and energy is needed.

It worked very well at the beginning (if being a bit over excited and over confident on how strong you are counts as “very well”) but it didn’t last long.

Moved to the front a couple of times and that felt hard. Tried to sprint once (Ripley) and I wasn’t even close (Dai took it).

The always optimistic Javier still had great hopes for the Esher sprint but as soon as the key move happened I found myself with no legs and in no man's land. 

The group from behind caught up with me. Creme Brulé did a monster turn in the front but he was going so strong I struggled to pass him. In fact more than me sprinting it was him just slowing down.

4th in the line.

With my sprinting dreams destroyed I checked Strava as soon as I got home. I knew I had done a good climb up to Green Dene and I needed any bit of positiveness I could get to recover my morale.

Went into the shower dreaming that I’m a climber now. Let’s see for how long the dream stays alive.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9911045147/

Take care

Javier Arias González

One of those days

 Today was one of those days.

Everything was meant to be perfect. 

Nice weather. Chill but not too cold and mostly sunny.

A big group (10)  to have plenty of opportunities to sit up. X

Legs feeling fresh after a good night's sleep. X

Morale high after a strong coffee in the morning.

A flat route to show off your sprinting skills. X

And today, the day you were feeling fresh on a flat route and able to sit on the wheels of a  big group while the caffeine was convincing you are the best sprinter in the world…

Today was one of those days when your di2 runs out of battery. 

AGAAAAAIN. 

From km46!!!!!

As I’m running out of new ways to embarrass myself I’m starting to repeat the ways I embarrassed myself in the past.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9904689607/

Take care of yourself

Javier