Uhl in Eagle, ID – Today wasn't as warm as yesterday, but it was still warmer than average. The stiff southeast wind continued from yesterday. I headed out to do the Emmett Horseshoe Bend Loop in a clockwise direction, figuring that coming down Hwy 55 isn't as bad with a southeast wind as coming down Hwy 16. On the way out, I was surprised to see a few school buses out. I left a little after noon, so while waiting behind a stopped bus on Beacon Light, it dawned on me that it was the day before Thanksgiving, so the schools probably let out after a half-day. If I'd had remembered Thanksgiving was tomorrow, I would have left earlier. Mainly to get back home before all the holiday traffic started. But at that point, I decided to keep my route plan the same and just deal with the traffic on Hwys 16 and 55.
After the school bus got going, I started my tempo session. Going up Hwy 16 wasn't too bad as the gentle uphill kept my wattage where I wanted. The wind was at my back and I just cruised up the hill. I kept the pressure on as I descended into Emmett and made a right onto Substation Rd. Once on the flats it was a bit harder to keep my wattage up, but I kept at it. It was also feeling more difficult than usual and I was questioning my goal of doing 2 hours of tempo. I figured if I just completed an hour, that would be fine. With the hills, it would still make a good workout.
But when the one hour mark came, I was on Hwy 52 going through Black Canyon and I decided to push through it. I kept going straight through Horseshoe Bend without doing the usual stop at the Chevron. I headed up the hill for the last half hour of my tempo interval. Having that hill at the end, helped to keep wattage up at a time when I was starting to fade. After yesterday's workout and 2 hours of riding today, climbing Old Horseshoe Bend Hill hurt more than usual, especially for the moderate pace I was going. But I pushed it all the way to the top before I stopped the tempo interval. I managed a solid 2hrs and 8mins of tempo at 262/264 watts (ave/norm).
I rested on the downhill, but kept the pace up in the flats. On the false flat on Hwy 55, I was still fighting a headwind, but it felt like it had died down a bit. This was good because it looked like I was in for a record time for this route. The traffic wasn't so bad since most of it was headed north up to McCall. I pushed it almost all the way home, with only 5 minutes of cool-down. When I reached home, it was indeed a personal record of 2:57:45! Power was 242/253 watts (ave/norm) with a TSS of 210.
