Paris Roubaix Day

One of my favorites races of the year today, Paris-Roubaix.  This is a one-day classic from Paris, France to Roubaix, Belgium, a 260 km route famous for its cobblestone roads.  It is often called the "Hell of the North".  I love watching this race because anything can happen.  Many races often seem to have a foregone conclusion, but at Paris-Roubaix, the challenging terrain tends to shake things up, causing numerous crashes, flat tires, and countless mechanical issues.

I had been waiting all year for this race, but I also wanted to get in a good ride today.  I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to make this happen.  But circumstances ended up working in my favor.  First, the weather turned to shit.  After a beautiful Saturday, it started to rain and snow on Sunday.  It was looking like it was going to be a pretty miserable day.  Then, I found out that NBC Sports wasn't going to be airing Paris-Roubaix on TV.  They were only going to be live-streaming it on their web site, starting at 5am Mountain Time.  So, if I wasn't going to be riding outside, I was going to be on the trainer instead.  And if I was going to be inside on the trainer, I might as well watch the race while I was at it.

The race was going to be shown for four hours, which seemed about the right amount of time for a long Sunday ride.  Rather than deal with a long Spinervals workout, like usual, I opted instead to do a workout from TrainerRoad, which is a power-based workout.  TrainerRoad has a ton of workouts on their site, depending on what type and length of workout you need.  I found a decent-looking 3.5-hour aerobic-base workout.  But to make this happen, I needed to be on the trainer at 5am when the live stream started.  So, alarm at 4am.  Made a smoothie, got dressed, got the computer set up and was up and running pretty much right at 5:00.

Paris-Roubaix and TrainerRoad workout, together.

As usual, the race was great, with a lot of changes in the lead, nasty looking crashes, and lots of misery.  Good stuff.  It was great to be able to watch it while getting in a good workout.


Food:

• Breakfast:  Fruit / protein smoothie
• Lunch:  Chipotle burrito.  Needed some calories after my ride.
• Dinner:  Chicken with chorizo confetti.  One of my favorites.

Exercise:

• 3.5-hour ride on the trainer - Mount Alice
• Strendurance Workout E

Today's weigh-in:  182.0