SST On a Cold Day

This morning it was 18 degrees and trees were coated with ice, so I didn't really plan to ride outside, but due to lack of motivation I piddled around the house and put off the trainer ride.  Once it got close to noon, it was sunny and about 32, so I decided to ride outside.  After a 9 minute warm-up I settled into a pace in the 280-290 watt range and was feeling comfortable.  I felt better as I went along, ramped up the pace a little, and ended up doing 294 watts for an 85 minute stretch.  It was one of my best efforts this year, and I even finished feeling like I could've kept going.

Except for the long ride on MLK day, I haven't done any long rides.  That's partly due to the cold weather, but mostly because I just feel like trying a different approach.  Who says you have to ride lots of 4 or 5 hour rides to build up endurance to prepare for road racing?...Well most people would say that.  I'm just not going to do it this year.   I don't think missing all those long rides is going to matter at all.  In fact, based on how I'm progressing so far, I think I'll be better off.  But in the end, if I'm wrong, and I suck when it comes time to race, I can deal with that.  The reality is that I'm a 40 year old amateur who does this for fun.  I'm just going to keep experimenting with my less is more training plan and see where it takes me.