When I checked the weather conditions at 10:05 AM before today’s ride, it was 51deg and calm at my house; at FOX it was 52deg; ENE@5. When I got to the VA Home at 30W and Ave I, the flags were waving out of the ENE at approximately 10mph.
I was really happy that my legs felt as good as they did after yesterday’s record-breaking best ride pedaling the PCs. The NE’ly wind got progressively stronger as the ride progressed. Climbing the SR14 overpass, I was able to pedal out the saddle for the entire climb (36 full pedal strokes). I again struggled pedaling the PCs against the headwind. On 3 separate occasions, I stood up and pedaled 12 rotations for a mini-interval. It felt good to pedal out of the saddle and break up staying in the saddle on the flats. I estimate the wind picked up to 20-30+ mph. FOX@11:00: 55deg; NE17G26. East of 60E, I noticed the air quality was deteriorating from the blowing sand and there were small tumbleweeds blowing across the desert floor. I decided to turn around at 70E.
On the way back, I worked on pedaling the PCs at a faster cadence which is a “different kind of hard” than pushing a strong pace. As a reminder, the PCs are independently clutched (both legs always riding “one-legged”) and are heavy. I was able to maintain a cadence from the mid-70s to low 80s. I could only maintain this cadence for 1 mile before having to take a short break. I pedaled out of the saddle again going up the SR14 overpass. However, I was in too big a gear to max out the power. I still had strong legs the last several miles riding south on 30W with pedaling power over 200 Watts. FOX@11:25: 55deg; NE21G29. I was surprised that I had the 2nd highest normalized power (175W) for the entire ride, only 2W below my max.