I’m tired. Very. But a satisfied tired. What a way to experience my first San Remo. 35k in I put in one attack after following a number of larger moves and managed to time it perfectly. The field paused and 4 of us were gone for a looong day out front. To be able to “relax” (on a day that in the second half is notoriously stressful) and enjoy the entire course, the huge crowds that lined every little town, every intersection, every driveway, and to ride that stretch of coastline escorted down a closed road…wow. Pretty amazing. We made it to the base of the Cipressa, the first of the final 2 decisive climbs of the day, made it about 750 meters up and then watched the pointy end of the peloton come flying by. Neither of the last climbs are particularly hard, probably pretty easy if you were fresh, but it was all I could do to make it over the damn thing. Fortunately some teammates in a bigger group behind and helped drag me to the finish. Thanks Maggy for that last fruit tart - wouldn’t have made it otherwise.
A couple of interesting training geek things that come from having the powertap, and then overanalyzing what it tells you: 6747kjs, 2 hours and 9 minutes at 330-380, 2 hours and 12 minutes between 380 and 450. No doubt the most workload I’ve ever done out on a bike. And driving back to Girona with David and George last night at record speeds (home by 11!) it was interesting to contrast the difference for the guys in the peloton that were going for it at the end. David was round 5200, George around 5400 - big days, but still reasonable, and for guys closer to 75-78kgs than 68. Numbers that still leave you with enough gas to go warp speed over the last climbs - and George was killing it.
In an effort to balance out those numbers, what did I eat yesterday? A LOT. Before breakfast I almost thought it’d be interesting to track it, but then realized that was way, way, way too much work. I can roughly remember this: Breakfast: plate of eggs, maybe 3?, 4 strips of bacon, 1 breakfast roll, 1 bowl of meusli, 1 bowl of rice with another 2 eggs/ham chopped into it, 2 cappuccinos; On the bus pre start: 1 fruit tart, 1 frangipanne bar; Race: 6 fruit tarts, 1 clif bar, 6 clif blocks, 5 gels, 2 ham/cheese rolls, lots of bottles, 3 cokes; post: 1 more tart, 2 sandwiches, protein drink, banana, some serious ice cream, another sandwich, and when I got home, a bowl of lentil soup and a couple of cookies that meatball left behind:). I’d be curious to see the calorie count for that, but am a bit too tired right now. Instead it’s time to make some coffee, and then maybe sleep a bit more.
