The newbie threads roll on!
What is the phisiology of the second wind? I think I hit mine today.
OK, I'm the whuss that gets blown after 3.5 miles at 85 cadence.
However, today after lowering my cadence to 70-75-ish (didn't pay as close attention today, just listened to the body), I decided to go out on a limb and ride past my normal turn-off and go farther.
I went a full mile farther out (2 miles more total) which is 57% farther than I've done in the past.
Oddly, it didn't get any harder. In fact, my average speed was 13.8MPH. Wednesday's ride averaged 14.3 over 3.5 miles, but this time I had to stop dead and wait twice for cars (my computer's not on auto) and both times I had trouble getting back into my pedals (using PowerGrips, not clipless or toe-clips), which cost me some time and effort to get moving again. So the numbers are, in reality, probably nearly identical.
Now, this new section was a lot less rolling than the previous one, which could have something to do with it. It could also be a perception problem: The steepest part of my ride is at the turnoff. After the turn, which is up-hill leading to it, the hill gets steeper for around a quarter mile. I know, most of you don't call that a hill, but to a newbie it's painful! That hill is where I always end up in the granny gear suffering mightily.
Today I still suffered on that hill, but not much more than normal.
Things I learned today:
1. Someone here made the comment (or maybe it was somewhere else) of not down-shifting too soon at the start of a hill. It seems to me that it's definitely easier if you stick with it through those first 3 or 4 hard cranks. Downshifting won't necessarily make you suffer less, but that might be psychological.