No Racing = Long(ish) spins

With no races this weekend I was able to get down to some long spins. Saturday was a mountain bike ride following the Wicklow Way to the Ballinastoe Trails, a couple of loops of that with a loop around Djouce and home via the road. A bit under 5 hours made it a lovely day.

The MTB Spin

Profile for the ride

On Sunday I got out to do one of my long road loops - basically 3 major climbs over about 120km with about 2100m total climb. The first time I did this loop (about 20 months ago) it took me about 4:45 - Sunday it was 4:09 at an easy enough pace (except for the climbs - did those at a hard tempo)

Lollipop loop

On another note, one piece of kit that I have been using that I really like is the new Specialized BG Pro SL shorts. Basically a pair of bib shorts made for warmer weather with a slightly less bulky chamois. They stay in position and fit me perfectly. For a long time I basically rode the cheapest bike shorts I could find - I still have lots of them which I wear on shorter days but the comfort of a good pair of shorts when riding for longer then a couple of hours is really worth the expense...