Hey there Team El Grupo riders!
I hope the pandemic doesn’t have you too bored and inactive. We are lucky to be in a part of the world that still allows outside activity, albeit with very smart distancing and safety practices.
I sent out an email last week that possibly didn’t reach all of you. No stress if you don’t have an email or didn’t get a chance to respond. Later this week, Ben and I will be coordinating small group meetings via the web to get a sense of what you enjoy most about riding, racing and Team El Grupo.
I have not tried watching Tiger King or any such show during the pandemic, but instead have been watching classic racing videos as I’m still a racing junkie. Check out this amazing footage of the 1987 World Championship Road Race. The telecast is highlighting the green jersey’d Irish pair, world #1 ranked at the time Sean Kelly (the pre race favourite) and Stephen Roche, the winner of both the Tour de France and Giro D’Italia. It’s cool to see their tactics unfold and eventually unravel to ensure a surprise ending.
Part 1 here;
Part 2 here;
It will be interesting to see how your fitness has changed throughout Team El Grupo’s hiatus during this pandemic. Let’s do a workout to evaluate the change. I’m sure you’re all familiar with VO2max or Zone 5 intervals. Typically these are all out efforts with a 1:2 work to rest ratio. It’s best to do these on a climb so that the gradient will help you to reach into the VO2max system faster on each repetition. Pick a location that’s close and familiar to you or where you’ve tried these before. A Mountain, Mount Lemmon, Gates Pass or Trail’s End all will work wonderfully. For ease of math, let’s shoot for a 4 minute rep with a 6 minute rest. If you do these all out, getting 4-5 reps will be very difficult. Shoot for that and let me know it goes. I’d love to hear your impressions on the difference from now to when we had regular practices. You can email me at gord@elgrupocycling.org or message me on Instagram at gordfraser1 or better comment below on the blog.
These will not be pleasant but hey, you’re Team El Grupo and one thing I’ve admired from afar all these years is the collective ability to confront a challenge. Good luck and let me know how they go.
Gord
