King of the mountain

Now that I work with a coach, I regularly do some low HR zone rides. I never did a lot of those easy rides and when I did, there was always another cyclist in the distance that I decided to start chasing down… Now I really try to stick to the HR zones mentioned in my workouts. Staying below a certain heart rate has became a nice game, especially when climbing in the warm Sicilian weather.

A few days ago coach Rob had a low HR zone ride planned for me, so I went out and slowly made my way from the beach of the coastal town of Balestrate through the lovely town of Castellammare del Golfo in the direction of Segesta. I usually stop a lot on these low HR zone rides to take some pics I can post on Twitter or this blog and this day was no exception:

Near Balestrate’s Beach

In Castellammare del Golfo

I wanted to update a photo I once took near the temple of Segesta when I did a ride on my Ridley Excalibur, but when I got up there after a nice 7-8% climb my smart phone battery had arrived ad 9% so my Samsung wouldn’t let me take another picture. Better luck next time!

I put on my Castelli leggero vest when a cyclist passed me. I guess he was in his early sixties and based on the publicity on his jersey he was probably from the area. I started the descent and soon passed the nameless cyclist on the way down. As soon I reached the end of the descent I started pedaling in an easy gear and went in the direction of Alcamo. After 100 meters I saw a shadow behind me so clearly mr. unknown had decided to tag along (something I really hate btw, especially if the cyclist doesn’t introduce himself first). After 15 minutes of catching wind for him we arrived at the climb towards the town of Alcamo where I’m listed 2nd on Strava. After a few minutes mr. cyclist anonymous decided I wasn’t going fast enough so he took off in a bigger gear and soon he was around 200 meters in front of me. The climb is not that long, but he clearly started a bit too enthusiastically, because 3 km into the climb I was only 20 meters behind him. 300 Meters before reaching the top his tank was almost empty and he started zigzagging. I almost reached him when he noticed me. He then accelerated a bit and arrived first at the end of the climb.

He stopped, got of his bike and leaned on it whilst panting heavily. I passed him and said: “E’ grande!” (you’re great!). He lifted his head and an almost inaudible “grazie” escaped his mouth. I followed the road back home and thought:”Bravo, mr. unknown cyclist, today you were King of the Mountain!”

Cycling in the direction of Segesta

Near the climb towards the temple of Segesta