Stressy start to this ride: I was in a time crunch bc I had to be in Keedysville by 11:00 am to trim a horse. The first part of the route was heading east into the sunrise with lots of traffic lights and stop signs - it was very slow going for the first 8 miles bc I couldn’t see with the sun. The route then became annoying: It took us on high traffic roads with high speed limits (50 mph; not a lot of cars but the few were doing at least 70!)

Once we were out on familiar country roads, I relaxed. It was so beautiful out there.

The hills out there are well-known to me - they were a breeze today. I was tempted to do a you and do one of the tougher ones twice but decided to behave and stay within my watts.

There were some long flats in the last 3rd of the route where I got down in aero position and booked it (22-25 mph pedaling!) Love how tight my entire core feels in this position. Finished the ride in negative splits. (See graph!)

The biggest surprise of this ride for me was J’s note: I earned myself another 5 watt increase to my FTP!!!!!! In just SEVEN MONTHS, I’ve DOUBLED my watts/kg: from 1.3 w/kg to 2.6!!!! 😳 The box squats and PT and FOOD are working!

Even made it in time to snag a quick coffee and yogurt granola from G&G before running back to the house!