Well gang all my winter and spring prep work paid off today. Last weekend I
rode a very hilly course out in the country with three 4 mile 5% hills. I
picked that course because I thought it was well 'over my head' to be able
to complete. But I did it with energy to spare.
This evening I rode my regular course and am now able to ride more than
27mph on the flats for about 60 seconds, and then I have to drop back to
about 23-24. My average speed suddenly jumped up more than 1.5mph overall
and I literally sprinted up the last hill that usually has me sagging.(*)
Amazing how those gains can come so quickly - oddly yesterday and thursday
I rode OK, but was struggling and feeling slightly off, even though I was
about .5mph faster than my usual avg speed.
Some people say that this is typical - you have kind of a slight slump just
before making big gains.
But I'm telling you, to suddenly increase your avg speed 1.5mph is hyoouge.
I was literally sprinting at every corner and false flat where I used to
sit up and sometimes struggle to spin up. I kept thinking, 'this [censored]
can't last!'. But it did. Oh, and my cadence is back up to 85 to 90. I
wonder if someone put some nandrolone in my toothpaste, LOL!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/athletics/news/1999/12/04/baumann_toothpaste_ap/
Just goes to show you, keep up the good fight and you will be rewarded!
It's days like today that you really fall in love with cycling all over
again. As I told my friends 'the sprint light was always on, baybee'.
(Of course I hurry to admit as a cyclist I still suck, but today I sucked a
lot less than usual. Tomorrow I may be slow again, but days like today
stick with you and I'll be re-living it as I drift off to sleep tonight.
<g>😉
jj
(*) That last little hill is a killer because it's at the end of a long
false flat and the thighs are often burning. Today was an exception. As I
rode up the hill I was surprised to find myself actually accelerating.
Mid-way up there was a family sitting in the front yard of their trailer
and they let their little dog loose to run out in the road after me. It
normally would have scared me, but I was riding so well, I just picked up
the pace again and the dog literally started to fall over trying to keep up
with me. I started laughing and hollared back over my shoulder: 'hey, your
little dog need to get in better shape'.