Last Friday, I had limited time to fit in a bike ride, so I decided that, if I was going to have to keep it short, I might as well try to make it a tempo ride. It ended up being more like a time trial.
The numbers:
Miles: 17.23
Time: 52:12
Avg MPH: 19.8
I've never averaged 19 mph on a ride before, let alone nearly 20! I think the key was staying down in my drops for about 95% of the ride (I had to get up on the hoods very briefly because my hands were falling asleep and it was getting difficult to change gears).
Granted, this wasn't a very long ride and I doubt I could sustain that pace for too much longer, but it was a nice change of pace, so to speak. Hopefully it's a sign that my fitness is improving and that my average pace for my less intense rides will start creeping upwards. I'm thinking of doing this ride as a fitness test every few weeks, just to see if there's any improvement.
That ride (my most recent) puts me at 548 outdoor miles so far this year (with another 53 on the indoor trainer). Still not the mileage I'd like by this point, but my plan is to start bumping up my weekly mileage now that running is temporarily out of the picture. Work has been very busy for me lately, so it's been tough to get out. As the weather continues to improve and get warmer, I may have to start doing early morning rides, even though I much prefer late morning riding.
Speaking of work, I better get back to it...
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