Sha-doo-bee, I've been shattered!

So much for my hopes for an easy Sunday ride. KL had a team so-pro-motional event to go to on Saturday, and thus did not race nor ride hard. Fresh as a daisy, her training plan called for a simulated hilly circuit race to get her ready for this coming Saturday's World Cup race in Montreal. Poor old me, totally smoked from Sunapee, was assigned the role of rabbit for this little adventure.

Four laps of a circuit just a bit of a distance away from the New Hampton training center, around 11k per lap, with one nasty 4 minute hill, some screaming downhills to minimize recovery time, another testy little climb, and a windswept section of false flat were what she had planned for us. Man did this suck. Getting outclimbed by your girlfriend is not something you want on your palmares, even if she races elite and has podiumed twice at Mount Washington. Every lap I had to time trial down the rolling descent of the big climb to close the gap, then immediately go to the front to start forcing the pace and "make it hard." As if it wasn't already... My legs were frazzled, but I fought like a dog and went to the front and drilled it every time she slowed. Of course, as soon as the road turned seriously upward, I would once again be on the defensive. These things happen when a 170 lb rider gets pitted against a 92 pound rider. Gender gap my fat ass!

The second lap was slower than the first lap by about 35 seconds, and I told her that would not do. The last two laps were HARD. I almost stayed on during the climb, but I also told her not to wait for me on the descent, so she didn't. That made the chase a real friggin' picnic, let me tell you. The third lap was a minute faster than the first. Bell lap. I killed myself on the hill, cresting just about 50 meters back, but I was so spent that she rode away from me. I could not close it up. The last lap was hell for me. My legs were completely torched. By the end I was almost a minute behind, yet I still nearly equaled our third lap time. Tail firmly between my legs, I limped back to the house and collapsed.

So ends a pretty damn good week of training. I think I'm going to take it easy for a few days. Thanks for reading!