"I'm most satisfied with these types of events when everyone makes it to the end safely, with smiles on their faces, and satisfyingly legs."
by Alison Powers, ALP Cycles Coaching
In February ALP Coach, Alison Powers, announced that she had signed up for SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads in Steamboat, Colorado. With race day approaching, she’s been blogging every day leading up to the race. She blogs about the specifics of her training, her preparation, headspace, etc. All the things that lead up to race day that not everyone gets to see or understand.
20 days to go - Wednesday, July 30th
Day 3 of our annual tour of Colorado went from Carbondale to Avon at 66 miles 
and 2400ft of climbing, it was our easiest day of the Tour. However, due to all the pedaling, it felt harder than I thought it should. Minus a bit of downhill bike path riding (which was a wonderful warm-up), it climbed steadily for 53 miles. So, for 3hrs we pedaled. No coasting, no real climbs to get out of the saddle for. For me, this felt hard on my body - my back was a little sore (not as bad as Saturday), my butt was getting sore, my arms were getting tired, etc.
It was a beautiful route. Riding through Glenwood Canyon next to the high running Colorado was awesome. We saw rafters and kayakers.
Today, I got to ride the entire route while Paddy and Brie took care of the van and van stops.
The morning started close to usual- mobility, dynamic warm-up. No Foundation training today nor BCAA’s or preload. I started with the first group to leave and we had a great pace with high cadence on the path to Glenwood. Then came the canyon and it was hard to focus on anything other than the coolness of where we were riding. Once out of the canyon and onto highway 6, we had a nice pace and rode steady.
By the time we got to Avon, I was tired but not cooked. Today and Friday I had coke at the last van stop to make sure it went well with my belly as they will have it at SBTGRVL. Coke is the bomb and it tasted good and I liked it.
For me, I’m most satisfied with these type of events when everyone makes it to the end safely, with smiles on their faces, and satisfyingly tired legs. Mission accomplished on this year’s Tour! It was really awesome. The second sag car was most helpful and our logistics were on point. We are already planning next year’s route. Thank you to Paddy and Brie for their amazing help, great attitudes, organization, and willingness to laugh and be laughed at. It’s such a good time.
For me, this was a good 3 day training block. Given the fact that I’m in charge of 24 people, I was psyched to get some solid riding and my own tired legs. I now need to work on some repeated intensity (after rest).
Speaking of rest- today (Wednesday) 20 days to go- is a rest day. I did some solid foam and lacrosse ball rolling last night and that helped me feel so much better. Rolling really is so important to stay on top of. It helps the body feel better, and stay mobile.
