I finally got outside for a couple of hours today and got to thinking, as you do on the bike, about the peaks and valleys of training and, in particular, the peak.
Whether I’m in great shape or whether I’m like I am now, I always take around an hour to warm up. I’ve had hundreds of rides where I thought that I would not make it through at minute 15, but then the afterburners kick in around minute 50 and I’m feeling like Mathieu van der Poel pulling back everybody in the last 15 kms of the Amstel Gold Race.
Except in my case at the moment, I’m MVdP who passes two guys and blows up.
When I have ‘the sensations’ and am well trained, I can ride hard for hours after my hour warm-up. Here is a visual representation of how I need to be during the Tour du Mont Blanc in July.
My warm-up is the skree rising up to the top of Mount Conner, followed by a nice, long peak, then a drop-off in juice, hopefully happening a kilometer from the finish line.
And then there’s right now.
My hour warm up is the southern flank of Mt. Fuji, then I get a good 10 minutes of peak before wishing I was closer to home. Gotta start somewhere.
The Vicious Cycle 
It takes me at least 7 km to warm up and then I can start climbing except if it’s really cold.
That’s a very precise distance, Sheree!
I’m a very precise person!
I like your illustrated examples a lot. I’ll need to find an all downhill picture from some skiing programme to illustrate mine.
That comment doesn’t bode well for my future!
Believe me, your future doesn’t bode well for your future, at least as far as vigorous exercise goes. There are many consolations though.
I’ll keep that in mind going forward, but the evidence is slowly taking shape already.
Make hay while you are still young.
I remember with great fondness the days I would simply hop on my bike and after a 30 second “warm-up” I’d be at full throttle. The guys I used to train with laughed at how underrated “the warm up” was.
That said, even today as a guy who’s a couple months from becoming a senior citizen, who knows his splits at certain landmarks will still try to beat the best time. Old habits die hard.
John still rides this way, much to my chagrin. I guess there are plenty of people out there who are concerned what their rides ‘look like’ on Strava, and therefore hammer it from the get-go (I think I have another blog idea!), or maybe they just warm up then press ‘start’.
Anyway, I also miss those days of hopping on and riding (or doing anything quickly for that matter).