For a change we decided to ride a very flat route instead of our usual hilly route. I am so glad we did. It felt so easy compared to our usual 2100 feet of ascent for a ride of this length (32 miles) instead we only climbed 690 feet in total. Nice.
No hills meant pretty constant effort and speed, plus there are fewer than half the stop signs. Our hilly route has a stop sign every. single. mile. It gets old and besides slowing down the average speed, we are constantly having to ramp up effort to get back up to speed over and over – which wastes energy. And guess what you use to pedal a bike!
Between the fewer stop signs on the flat route and the easier pedaling our average speed was nearly 2 miles per hour higher. Most importantly, it was more enjoyable. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and NO WIND.
First graph is today’s route, 32 miles, 692 feet of ascent, 15.3 average speed, average heart rate of 115. Second graph, a typical ride on our hilly route from 2 weeks ago, 2188 feet of ascent, 31.4 miles, average speed of 13.5 (slower than typical but not for this early in year), average heart rate 119. I have a low resting heart rate of 40-42 and often start my rides in the 60’s so heart rate isn’t a good indicator of suffering or difficulty for me.
Today was a perfectly perfect day for riding: 72 degrees, 0 wind, little traffic and even not that many cyclists which surprised me giving the perfect conditions.
Flags here rarely ever look like this:
No wind and flat roads make for blissful rides.
Yesterday I had a detailed bike fit done which I will post about later, but with the tweaks to my position and the new Chorus drivetrain, new carbon handlebar, new stem, new brakes and compact gearing feels like I am riding a new bike. A new fast bike!
