After a recovery week and an easy day yesterday, I was raring to go today. The day started out wet, but by midday, the roads were starting to dry up. There were still some dark-looking clouds in the sky, but it was warm so I decided to chance it. I set out to do the Emmett-Horseshoe Bend Loop and planned on doing two or three twenty-minute lactate threshold (LT) intervals.

I did my first interval northbound on Hwy 16. Aside from all the traffic going 65MPH, this is the perfect stretch of road to do one since there are no intersections and it’s a gradual uphill all the way to the top of Freezeout Hill. Since I planned to do a few intervals, I set my target wattage for the lower-end of my Level 4 range. There was a stiff northeast wind, giving me a headwind up Hwy 16. So for the first interval, I overshot my target and averaged 294 watts.

Then I cruised down the hill into Emmett and started the next interval on Substation Rd. This was the worst section of the route to do intervals on, since there was a crosswind and I had a few 90° turns and intersections to contend with. But I pushed through it and ended my second interval just past the Black Canyon Dam.

I spun easy for five minutes then started my third interval. Being so late in the fall and a weekday, there wasn’t much traffic on Hwy 52 through Black Canyon. I think only 10 cars passed me on this scenic and curvy stretch of road which winds along the Payette River. Even though it was somewhat gloomy out and the road was damp—two things I usually don’t like while riding outdoors—I was really enjoying the ride. Sure the intervals hurt, but it felt so good to be out on the road, pushing my body like that. I was starting to feel, excuse the cliché, “in the zone”!

I originally planned to do only three intervals, but after my third interval I was feeling so good I decided to do another one before Horseshoe Bend. So with only four minutes of rest, I punched it again, knowing that I’d probably run out of road before twenty minutes passed. The town line came quick but with the way my legs were hurting, I was glad. I managed to get in a 15-minute interval with an average wattage of 300.

I took it easy through town and decided that I might as well do yet another interval on Old Horseshoe Bend Road. At this point it would just be “gravy”; I could have just sauntered home at that point and still been happy with the workout. But I decided to take advantage of feeling so good. The fifth interval up Old Horseshoe Bend Hill was the hardest and I was thankful it was on a hill; it’s usually easier for me to maintain power on climbs. I timed myself from cattle guard-to-cattle guard in 26:25 with an average of 292 watts. My best time ever was back in 2003 when I did it in 23:28 at 331 watts. But that’s when I took it easy the whole ride and saved it for the climb. Plus my former teammate, KW, paced me for the first couple miles…until he dropped me. So doing 292 for 26 minutes after four LT intervals, was definitely fine with me!

After descending down Hwy 55, I kept a tempo pace, hoping to break three hours for the ride. I’ve only broken three hours for this route once before and I had a feeling I’d be doing it again today. It was confirmed when I made it home in a time of 2:58:51! Not bad considering the wind conditions were suboptimal; due to the canyon, which seems to funnel the wind, this route is usually faster with a west wind.

Today was a phenomenal ride for me; I felt great, both mentally and physically. I also managed to do a lot more work than I planned and racked up 230 TSS in only a 3-hour ride! Talk about efficient training!