Road Cycling - Was it something I ate?!?! (Huge improvement)

First a little background- I started training with my new road bike on a regular basis, about 5 weeks ago. Started out at around 50 miles per week, now am up to around 100-110, and still increasing.

I have a little 15 mile TT that I put myself through from time to time, to gauge my improvement. The past 3 times, I have averaged 15.2, 15.4, 15.9mph. When I would get done, I would be pretty well spent, and wouldnt really feel I could have done it any faster. The last trial was about 2 weeks ago.

Zoom forward to today- I finished the same course with an average of 19.05mph!! As usual, the ride was done when it is hot and humid, and there was little wind. Is this typical of a beginning road biker? Does improvment typically jump like this??

In addition, after the ride today, I felt like I could have 1) gone a little faster, 2) could have kept going at least 5 more miles at the current pace. Of course, as soon as I got off the bike, my legs were exhausted, but just 5 minutes later, they felt fine (unlike previous rides- where my legs would feel somewhat tired the rest of the day).

I guess I am just a bit baffled at this.. the only changes in the last 2 weeks were- 1) getting my bike professionally fitted (which did make an impact in comfort), and 2) I have been doing a lot more hilly rides lately. I can see how these 2 things could make a difference, but I never expected to see such dramatic results.

-BlueDevil

great job :)
i cant answer your question about improvement, although if your prior fitting was very poor i suppose having it right could be huge.

1. the wind. even a barely perceptible breeze at rest can make a huge difference in your speed on the bike.

2. the fit. my gut feeling tells me your seat was too low on the bike before, so that you weren't getting adequate extension of your legs.

BlueDevil: That's quite an impressive improvement you've made! When you've been doing the hill climbing have you been doing it from a seated or off the seat mode? Hill climbing while seated helps build power for the flats. That may have contributed to the improvement.

What will be really interesting to see is your time the next time you do the TT :)
Please keep us posted.

Zack

First off- thanks for the compliments everyone. It felt great to see a big improvement! :)


Originally posted by deliriou5
1. the wind. even a barely perceptible breeze at rest can make a huge difference in your speed on the bike.

2. the fit. my gut feeling tells me your seat was too low on the bike before, so that you weren't getting adequate extension of your legs.

I know that a little wind can make a huge difference (I have seen it out in some of the more open areas on my other rides), however, this area typically gets W-->E winds, and 1) the 2 roads go N and S (so it is usually a cross wind) and, it is down in a ravine by a stream, which is heavily wooded, so you typically get VERY little wind down there.

As for the fit- in my fitting the other day- I actually had my saddle lowered. I had adjusted it for my longer leg, instead of for the shorter. I think one thing that made a huge difference was the bar height- my bars dropped about 2 1/2 inches.. They were about even with my seat, now they are below, so I noticed a bit lest wind on the chest.

Zack-
95% of my hill climbing has been in the seated position. I tend to find a gear I can spin in at a good cadence, if that gets too hard, I drop one gear.. if that gets too hard, I go up one gear, stand, and kind of wind up again (in the first gear I was in) and once I get a good cadence standing, sit back down, rinse and repeat. I'll definately keep you updated on the next trial (in a week or two).

-BlueDevil