I joined the club for its Sunday morning ride today. The B’s did a 30-mile round trip over rolling hills out in the country. It’s the fifth time this year I’ve done the ride, and I noticed one thing above all else: it’s getting easier.
That’s not to say it’s an easy ride. The hills offer plenty of challenge. But when I compare my ride time and average speed from when I first did the ride this year, they’re better.
I think there’s only one reason for it. I’ve ridden more this year than last. In fact, when I checked my stats at the end of today’s ride, I found that I hit 2,679 miles for the year. That’s two miles more than I rode all of last year. And there are still two more months to go. I should finish 2009 with a nice mileage total.
Although I haven’t done a century ride this year — my longest ride was 77 miles — I’m putting in more miles on the typical ride. I’m at 21.6 miles on average now. That might not mean much, but I think riding longer toughens a person, and helps prepare for the longer distance rides.
I’ll keep it up, I hope, at my current pace. I ride three times a week, four if I get lucky. I work on different aspects of my riding — cadence, hills, intervals — but mainly, I just ride. Let’s see — by riding another 320 miles over the next two months, I can finish the year at 3,000 miles. Heck, that’s doable. We’ll see if I reach that mark by Dec. 31st.
Intersting numbers, heare are a few more:
If you calulate that you averaged minimum 15 mph that means that you were in the saddle 178.6 hours or nearly 7.5, 24 hr., days.
If you believe the online calorie counters, 960 Calories per hr at 15 mph, means you burned 171,456 calories.
If you consume an average 2000 calories a day that means you burned nearly 86 days of calories.
Be careful! You may be getting fitter!
Cycling is one of the sports that takes time to reach your physical peaks, which is why most stage racers hit their prime in their early 30s. It takes a while to develop the specific muscles, I guess.
But other than fit, you should notice how more in “tune” you are with your body. You should have a better realization of what you can accomplish (speed, distance) on any given day – ie, when’s a good day vs struggle day. And your technique (pedaling, hill climbing) improves as well, which will lead to better times.
Keep going and have fun with it. And don’t be afraid to try trails riding to change things up a bit.