Exploring with a too big gear

Yesterday we arrived in Le Thilot, France. Today I did a ride just to explore some of the climbs we have to do for the Troi Ballons ride. The climbs were Col des Croix, Col des Chevreres and Ballon D'Álsace (in total the ride was 80km). Because basically the whole last week trainingplanning was messed up by the bad weather in the Netherlands I couldn't do the ride at a too great effort otherwise I would not be fresh on Saturday. Also given the fact that on Wednesday morning I did a small ride before we went to France I would push up my training load to much in a short time.

 

The ride did not have the TSS I wanted (120) and ended up at 180. Well then. I discovered that of those three climbs Col des Chevreres was the worst. Why? Because it is quite steep the last 3 kms and my gear is not quite suited for that. That is, I ride at a cadence of about 50 on the steep parts (14.5%) and it is just horrible. I really really have to push hard to keep riding. Also knowing that at near the end of Trois Ballons is a climb with also 16%, I think I am gonna have a hard time. But I am not gonna change my gearing just for these two parts, simple.

 

I did Col des Croix (3km) at 316 watt , first 6km of Col des Chevreres at 280 watt, 3 km steep Col des Chevreres at 300 watt, (30 min in total) and Ballon D 'Alsace (10km) at 260 watt (31 minutes). In all it was a nice ride, with some learnings on:

1) an indication on some of the climbs: were are the steep parts / road conditions

2) an indication on how long some of the climbs will take

I probably did the Col des Chevreres at the wattage I will also do it next Saturday. Or maybe just push a little bit harder because of the adrenaline. Col des Croix was done at a wattage higher than I will do on Saturday; now it was the first and on Saturday that climb is more near the end. I did Ballon D 'Alsace slower than on Saturday (I hope).

 

Some stats:

AP 222, NP 261, IF 0.8, 80km, 182 TSS, Elevation 1500m

 

On Saturday (not taking account my short spin ride for tomorrow / impact is also negliable) my CTL will be 70, ATL 66 and TSB -4.

 

Tomorrow I am going to explore some more climbs by car, go and get my number for Saturday, some short spinning, prepare my bike and take a rest. And hope for good legs on Saturday. And please, please no cramps.......