First, a little history. I've been racing since 2005 and Old Settlers Park has been my training venue from the beginning. It is a huge parcel of land and in keeping with Round Rock's self-proclaimed "Sports Capital of Texas" slogan, they keep adding fields. Several years ago, in adding a slew of soccer fields, they also laid out a new road. Part of that road is a pan-flat, .19 mile section that someone, not me, designated a Strava Segment. As an aside, I happen to have the fastest time, not just age group, on this segment. In any case, this was the only segment in the park until this year.
Besides training in the park, I also start and finish my long rides in the county from there. Several weeks ago, upon posting my ride, I discovered I had a PR on a segment. I'd never seen this before, and my twelve minutes plus for a 2.35 mile distance was unimpressive. Of course, it included a potty stop, so really wasn't a true reflection of my riding. Naturally, the first thing I did was check the 75+ age category to see who held the fastest time, and what it was. Turns out my old riding associate from the Georgetown Cyclopaths held that title, at 7:35. I wasn't about to let him keep it if I could help it. I won't go chasing Local Legend Laureates, but age-category championships are another story.
Rationally, there was no way could I mount a challenge after a sixty-mile ride. I would need to wait for one of my short training days. As it turned out, I did my long ride this Monday and my Tuesday exercises called for upper-body work at the Y early and a recovery ride mid-morning. Usually my recovery ride is two eight-mile loops, each loop covering all of the road surface in the park, plus most of the parking lots. But I changed that up to do a warm-up on the Strava segment, then a serious push on the second time.
The legs were still feeling the effects of my long ride, but the warm-up only took 8:50 so I felt pretty good about coming close to 7:35. To be clear, I didn't know my actual time until posting the results, but I estimated nine minutes. It took twelve to get back to the start. I replaced the cold weather jacket with my very nice ZFG wind jacket (thanks Todd) and prepared to get serious.
When your legs are dead, or when they are "race-ready" you know it. Mine were mid-way. That is, they were feeling good, but not super good. I focused on the time to beat of 18.7 mph, and saw 21-22 for the first part. That gave incentive to keep pushing. The one slight two-tenths uphill only slowed to 17.1 mph, and reinforced my confidence. The last hundred meters or so is a 4% uphill and the legs didn't have a lot of power, so it became necessary to gear down and up cadence. When I got home and posted the ride I was pleased to see 6:44 and 21 mph.
Because this segment goes from one end of the park to the other, I don't see it as anything other than a "thru" route, so suspect my time will stand for quite awhile. Meanwhile, there are two more segments that have cropped up, and I have them on my agenda.
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