I think I let myself get unfit just so I can see those fitness gains when I start working out again.
In any case, had a positive week. The kind you want to bottle and open up when you aren't motivated.
Saturday I did a 100k event/charity ride at Fort Gordon, GA (Tour de Gordon). The riders were VERY casual, especially in the shorter distances. Great weather aside from a stiff wind. Figure 8 forward and reverse so you eventually got the wind from all sides. Lots of rolling hills (1450m total). First 100k I've done nonstop. Not that I couldn't do it, I just hadn't. Tried two weeks ago at a charity ride near Atlanta but got a flat and it took forever to remount the GP5000 tire. Power meter battery died at about 45 minutes in and I'd really like to have seen the data but the result was me just focusing on the ride.
Monday I did a mock fitness test. I'm in the Navy and we haven't had an official fitness test since Fall 2019. We can ride an exercise bike for the cardio portion. Twelve minute TT, basically, and the scoring is entirely power/weight (well, calories/weight). Got a new PB with 16 more calories and two fewer pounds since Fall 2019 and the result was a maximum score.
Tuesday I did a Zwift race because I couldn't think of anything else to do. I rarely race. Maybe 5 ever. Did my first TT on a French course. I have no sprint so this seemed like a good idea. Fifteen riders. I was 11th out of the gate. Was 29s behind the leader about 2/3 of the way through at a point where I had moved up to 3rd. The top two riders both quickly faded and I passed both of them at about the same time. Finished 10s ahead of 2nd and 29s ahead of 3rd. I've never really come close to winning a Zwift race before so I was happy. Total race time was about 36 min and I set a new high FTP for my effort over the last 20 minutes. So I'm certain my FTP is higher than that if I can be motivated enough to put out the power.