Great Ride on the Road

Nice Numbers

Yesterday was one of those days that you want to ride because the sun has fooled you into thinking that yes, it is 65° but he doesnt tell you that Mr. Wind has a surprise up his sleeve...Senior Gust. Now going into this ride, which is a tempo day, I had pretty much figured that it was going to be a struggle just to maintain 18mph. Of course living on the water makes the wind even more of an issue. So I get through my usual 10 mile starting loop at a 20 pace. Hmmm, ok it will change when I hit some of the climbs and the wind. 30 miles in and I am still at 20. The best part is that I feel like Super Man at this point. Even with the 20mph head winds, I am not feeling the burn at all, in fact my HR is hovering around 80% (160bpm). The real test was on the way back west on Pulaski Hwy, the head winds are at their worst. It always seems to blow the same direction every time I ride. Well, I still managed to hang around the 19mph clip, and feeling good. I know the avg speed had dropped at this point, but I still had some climbs to go and 10 miles. I hit Eastern ave and tucked and rolled. I got home and was pleased to find that after 52 miles, my average speed was at 20 exactly. Now, what I havent mentioned yet is the that during the ride, the only info displayed on my GArmin was %HR and HR zone-no speed, time, avg speed, etc. Maybe the key to riding a little faster is less info for the brain to fool you with.

So, I feel much stronger than last year at this time. The same loop in february of last year with less wind yielded a 19.4 average. Hopefully this will transfer the same results for the race season.