Like a frying pan

That's not a description of the heat in my basement. It's actually not too bad down there, as long as the fan is going. It's a description of the terrain of the Netherlands, which my simulated ride took me through today. Sticking with the Tacx RLVs, today I followed the first half of the Green Heart Classic. It reminded me a lot of West Texas. Except for the occasional bridge or highway overpass, I was treated to over two hours of 0.0% grade. (Reasons it's not like West Texas: it wasn't 100 degrees with 25 mph winds, and I wasn't chased by any dogs.) Pan flat.

The course was 76.7 km, so I broke it into four sections, each of 20 km (except the last was 16.7). Each block I stepped up the intensity, starting at 65% of FTP (~175w), and going up by 5% (or 15w). The last block wasn't hard, per say, but definitely required attention to keep the intensity up. By the end, I knew had gotten in a very good ride, that by the same token, wouldn't leave me so hammered I couldn't do the same tomorrow. That's the key for workouts right now: hard enough to promote the training effect, but only as much as necessary, so more work can be done the next day.

Bike: 2.5 hours, zone 1-2, 65-80% FTP (175-220w)