One of the advantages of working from home is that I can go for a “real” ride during the afternoon and continue working in the evening, as was the case today. Saving the 1-hour total I’d spend commuting I can put to doing a longer ride.

With a northwest wind I decided to do the Emmett–Horseshoe Bend loop. I never get bored of that route! The scenery was spectacular as it was super-clear out and the landscape is really green right now (for Boise). Come June and it will turn the yellow-brown color indicative of the desert we live in.

I treated the ride as a tempo workout, going as hard as I thought I could for the 3+ hours it usually takes me. This plan worked for about 1 hour 55 minutes, at which point I started to bonk and my legs became really weak. I could only manage 260 watts up Old Horseshoe Bend hill and that was a struggle. Fortunately after it was mostly downhill and tailwind after that. Even though my workout stats aren’t astronomical the ride definitely kicked my butt!