I’m always switching tactics. It might be what I do on the bike to try to get stronger and faster; or it might be what I eat on the bike during long rides.

Take the ride food. I like FitCrunch and Gatorade Whey Protein bars; but in hot weather, the coating on those bars gets half melted. The insides of the bars get very soft as well; and then I’ve got a mess to deal with. I cut those bars into pieces prior to setting out, to make them easier to eat. After an hour or so in this heat, the pieces are stuck together; and liable to fall apart when I try to pull one out to eat.

I think it might work better if I use a coated bar for my first food bag; then switch to other bars, such as Quest. Even non-coated bars get very sticky in hot weather; but at least I won’t be getting melted chocolate all over the place.

Training Tactics

I also keep trying different things to help me improve my pace. I really need to stick to one plan. They say that almost any training plan can work; but don’t keep changing it. Thus I\’m not quite sure how to continue my efforts to improve my pace. Should I make those pace-pushing intervals shorter, but work for increased speed; or should I keep the same speed, but continue to make the intervals longer and longer?

I want to be able to ride faster — say, 15 mph — for longer periods; and the latter tactic might serve that goal better. However, it doesn\’t allow for adverse wind conditions on event day. Pedaling 15 mph on a calm day is very different from fighting to maintain 15 mph in the teeth of a 15 mph wind!

But that is why I do those force intervals. The big difference between force intervals and just riding faster is, for the former I work against a hard gear; for the latter, I don\’t.

I\’m not the only one who is switching tactics. The news is full of reports of the Delta variant. When I heard reports of re-openings (restaurants, bars, sports venues, etc.), my pessimistic side reared up and thought, \”It\’s too soon.\” It looks like my pessimistic side was right. Locally, there\’s a new masks-indoors mandate; and a renewed shut-down won\’t surprise me. I just hope I can still ride!