Riding Hard vs. Riding Easy

The majority of my long rides I go "tempo" or "hard tempo", meaning I am not having difficulty breathing or talking. I may add in some "very har" efforts, but those are typically under 5 minutes, and quite frequently unrelated 2 minutes, followed by active recovery. 

Each week, I do one or two intense, short rides, but rarely do I do long, intense rides. I have done two long, intense rides over the past 6 months. The longest was last Saturday's Solvang Autumn Double Century. I rode hard for the first 110 miles-- averaged over 20 mph, and felt great on the climbs. However, I got behind on my hydration and slowed down on the second climb up Drum Canyon. I didn't realize I hadn't drank enough, so when I started cramping, I took a salt tab and consumed some gatorade, but it wasn't enough, and I came close to cramping for the remainder of the ride, every time I tried to put in any sort of effort.

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