The Hardest Week

After three weeks and 800 miles of riding, this week has been a lower volume week, a chance to consolidate fitness, scrub fatigue and recharge the batteries. For me, not going on a ride is much harder than riding. Sunday's four hour ride marked the last high volume day until Sunday's race. In between, Monday-rest, Tuesday-1hr intense ride, Wednesday-rest, Thursday-1 hr with cruise interval, Friday-rest, and today a good pre-race warm-up, a few 30 sec sprints and cool down.

What I know: It's not always about the miles. The time on the bike, like all exercise, actually breaks your body down. It's the time between rides when the body repairs itself and becomes stronger. Without the downtime, whether the rests between rides while you sleep, or the day off in the training week, or the half-volume week thrown in once a month, we need these rests to avoid the fatigue trap.

So I tell myself as the temperatures are hovering around 75, the sun is shining and the bike sits in the corner.