9/19/09: Test Day

After a 5-week layoff at the end of the 2009 racing season, it was time to get back in the saddle, which I did just after Labor Day. I spent the first 2 weeks just getting reacquainted with the Tarmac SL. It's amazing how uncomfortable my hands and wrists were after only 30min in the saddle!

In any case, the 19th was test day. I decided to use Flagstaff for my 5min and 20min tests, though I will be moving over to Lefthand Canyon in the near future as the weather starts to go South.

RESULTS:
5min - 364w
20min - 290w (FTP 276w)
5sec - 831w

Going in, I expected the results to be around 350w and 270w, respectively, so it was nice to overachieve. However, the sheer pain of it all was awful! How quickly we forget just how much the body gets knotted up and how deep the pain goes when we're out of shape and pushing our limits. After the 5min test, I wasn't sure I could continue on.

At the end, on the way home, I threw in a maximal effort to see where my top end was at as well. Not very impressive at all. This is a clear area of weakness which I know I need to address this off-season. My expectation is that my 5sec number improves the most over the next 6 months or so. We'll see.

Next test day is Saturday, 10/17 . . .