I spent last night racing against some of the world's best cyclists as they completed stage five of the Amgen Tour of California. And while I had a much easier (and shorter) ride than they faced, the sprinters still KILLED me at the end of the race.
Race season offers the opportunity to get in some training while watching the races. With the bike on the trainer, I started the workout watching E.R. Since I was a bit late getting going, I had to continue my ride after the show was over. I flipped over to Versus so I could "race" against the peloton in the ToC stage.
For the purpose of "realism" I established some simple guidelines for the workout. While the race was on, I had to be in the big ring with a low gear and keep cadence with the cyclists on T.V. That forced me to push my heart rate and work the legs. Commercials were for active recovery. That works really well, because it creates an irregular pattern of higher and lower heart rate efforts, while keeping a bit of control of the time spent at either level.
I was only about 90 minutes in when the peloton reached the finish line. Despite their being better than 100 miles ahead of me, there is NO WAY I could have kept up with them in the sprint to the line. Cavendish hit nearly 40 miles an hour in that final push. Amazing!
Regardless, using the race coverage translated into a more intense workout than might be achieved watching "regular" T.V. It might be time to invest in some cycling videos so I can use them when there isn't a race being broadcast.
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