The Weather Finally Breaks

Anyone that lives in New England knows that April doesn't necessarily mean Spring has sprung, after all we have had 2 feet of snow on April 1st, and that was just a few years ago. After a very brutal winter, when it seemed that the snow was falling on a daily basis I thought the cold snap would never break. This week was the first week of April and it rained all week. The one good thing about the rain was............it was not snow! This might have been the Spring shower that finally broke the back of Old Man Winter. Eventhough it was 48 degrees on Saturday and very windy, it was a joy to be training in weather that was not bone chilling cold. Todays ride was a pleasant 60 degrees, and very sunny. Hopefully this is a sign of good riding weather.

As far as the training goes, I am feeling very good. I have been sticking to the training program that the Velo Echappe team sent out a few months ago. Saturdays tend to be the long ride of the week, followed by a nice easy recovery ride on Sunday. There are only two days of rest per week, and they fall on Monday and Thursday. The other days are shorter rides, but at a much higher intensity. Eventhough I have been feeling good, I am still very nervous about the long steep climbs of France, and without big mountains here in south eastern Massachusetts, I will have to figure out a way to simulate some long hard climbs. As you can see from the below chart, I am logging in as much mileage as time permits.

Mileage Week of March 30th
Mon Rest
Tue 10 Hard Pace
Wed 15 Average Pace
Thu Rest
Fri 13 Easy Pace
Sat 40 Race Pace
Sun 25 Easy Pace

Kyle