End to end, 5:22, moving time: 5:17. Not as speedy as Saturday, but still much faster than my 5:45 target. I have the wind to thank for a bit of it, but I do believe the training has been working.
I wouldn’t have actually stopped at all if my power meter hadn’t suddenly gone dark on me. The battery had plenty of juice (and I’d brought a spare) but I spent – apparently – five minutes by the side of the road trying to get it back. No dice.
Oddly I didn’t need to pee at all. This despite drinking both bottles of water over the course of the day.
I was a bit at a loss without the power numbers – especially on the flats where I find it harder to gauge how much effort I’m putting in. But I still had my speed target and I knew how far I had to go so I was able to pace myself and not collapse/explode.
So in the end I kept the same approach: leading out a little hard (Tempo/Sweet Spot) then levelling off to Zone 2 (Endurance), following the 50-40-30-20-10 rule wherein you are allowed to coast at 50 km/h and float your feet on the cranks at 40. The last 20 or so km I turned on the gas a bit – aiming for what felt again like Tempo/Sweet Spot.
Same food strategy as yesterday. All in all I actually put on weight on this year’s tour. How weird is that? Alternating Clif bar with gel with tube pizza with gel again, starting 90 minutes into the ride, every hour.
The RLCT volunteer told me I was the first rider back to Ottawa. I did leave ridiculously early (6:37am) so it’s not like I won the maillot jaune. But I’m going to brag about it anyway.
I got there just in time to see the luggage truck backing in. The patio wasn’t opening for another hour. And my bag was the last off the truck. Literally. I watched them all. I grabbed my bag, thanked the movers and toodled off home. Zone 0.
Next time I will be tempted to sleep in. However had I done so I would have missed the scene above.
Many thanks to the Ottawa Bicycle Club, its volunteers, and most importantly Irene and Mallory.
Best RLCT ever for me.