So there is the "backside" of the hill I've been doing a lot; that I've done nearly as much. It's a fair bit harder; and there is a nasty (though not very long) hill leading to it. I did that series of hills tonight and then did the front side, so 40.2 miles and 3972 ft vertical. I'm pretty sure that is the most gnarly ride I've ever done; though I didn't have elevation tracking when I was seeking out hills on the 62 mile ride I did back in the day.
I didn't feel good riding today though, which was a surprise, because I was hammering on Tuesday, and took Wednesday off (though I spent 30 minutes on a stationary bike between 100bpm and 130bmp (only briefly) on Wed. The pasta I had for dinner last night had a super heavy cheese sauce that I don't think did me any favors; and kinda nixed my appetite before I was full; so that mighta been part of the problem. But I ate really well the first half of today; though honestly not much in the way of carbs: cheese quesadia and a small portion of yogurt and fruit for b'fast. Some apple slices with vegan cheese, a pea protein smoothie with coconut milk, cashews, as a snack around 10:30am; a large portion of chicken, quinoa and salad for lunch at 12:15pm. I don't normally eat vegan but it was provided at my place of work; I normally eat eggs for b'fast; maybe my body missed them. I wasn't hungry at 3:30pm but I ate a banana anyway, because I'm terrified of going hungry on a hilly ride and I was a little concerned about the low carb intake throughout the day. I drank coffee right before I went on my ride; yet from the start of the ride up until about 3/5 into it I felt like my legs were moving through motor oil. They improved a little after I ate my two shockblocks which do wonders for me. I don't know how those little cubes give me so much energy, but they are life savers; still, while the fruity/candy like cubes provided a noticeable improvement and staved on a sense of impending energetic doom, my legs never felt spritely, or even very willing. I figured since I was so strong on Tuesday, that the rest on Wednesday would mean I'd be strong again on Thursday but no dice. Maybe it was all mental: my riding partner bagged on me again and I was feeling more like a nap than a ride; and I much prefer riding with others than solo; but how could i not take advantage of the longest day of the year?
I guess I should do some recovery rides? I'm not really sure what the best course of action at this point is; what to make of the lackluster-feeling ride. Seems if I keep riding big hills on tired legs that the gains are gonna be a lot less than if I let them recover some; but I don't want to take three days off of riding again. Maybe I'll take tomorrow off, do the 9am Saturday group ride (which is led by some older veteran riders and usually goes at a B+ pace). Take Sunday and Monday off (or commute on Monday, since I've been meaning to start doing that) and suck wind on the A ride come Tuesday.
Don't feel inspired at all to do intervals after that ride. :-/
Oh, I should mention that I ate 6 plates of pasta with a light marinara sauce on Monday night; which, along with the 3 days of rest, may explain why I had the legs to keep attacking the whole ride.