I knew the weather was supposed to be good so I planned my last few workouts so I could hit it hard today. I invited my teammates as well as a former teammate, to do the Emmett–Horseshoe Bend Loop. We met at Reed Cycle and after waiting for the last rider to show up (you know who you are!) we headed out.

We kept it fairly easy until we got to Hwy 16 where I did a 20-minute LT interval. I told the guys what I was doing then I ramped it up. It felt good to be pushing wattage on the road; it’s always more rewarding when you expend your energy propelling yourself forward as opposed to the stationary riding I’ve been doing on my rollers. I kicked it on the rollers and picked it up a bit the last half of the interval. I ended the interval with an average power of 321 watts (325 NP). We cruised down the hill and then meandered towards Black Canyon. We made a pit-stop at the Wild Rose Park by the Black Canyon dam, then pace-lined on Hwy 52 towards Horseshoe Bend.

Our pace was pretty good with my wattage during my pulls around 400. By the time we passed by the Ola/Sweet turn-off, my legs were feeling it. Fortunately so were the other’s and so we eased up just a tad as we continued west towards Horseshoe Bend. I didn’t participate in the town-line spinrt, but it was fun to watch. Ben won!

We made another pit-stop at the Chevron, then headed up the Old Horseshoe Bend Hill Rd. I did an interval, cattle guard-to-cattle guard. Ben stayed with me most of the way and seems like he is in pretty good form right now. I managed 297 watts up the hill, but it sure hurt a lot more than the first interval, even though the wattage was lower. There was a bunch of snow at the top of the hill, making it feel like we really “hardcore” riding with snow at the sides of the road.

The climb sapped the remaining energy I had left in my legs so I was hoping we’d take it easy for the remainder of the ride. But with a downhill/tailwind on Hwy 55, we just couldn”t go slow. We rotated through, sling-shoting off eachother on the steepe sections and really got cooking! We kept it going by the Shadow Valley Hills Golf Course and I finally eased up as we passed Beacon Light Road. It was a fun ride and I really got my energy out today. I know I’m going to pay for it tomorrow!