engstrom

I had a good night last night. Maybe because it was a couple degrees cooler or because I finished my first century on Saturday but I managed my best ever average speed.

At the beginning of the ride the leader noticed that he was the only one with a headlight and was worried about it getting dark earlier. As soon as we pulled out of the parking lot it because apparent it was going to be a hammerfest so I figured I'd just hang on as long as could. Turns out I hung on until the end of the ride.

Now I can't wait for the Saturday morning ride to see if I'm able to keep my improved pace up. It's been a while coming but 3 consecutive 300+ mile months seem to have payed off in terms of speed and endurance. Here's to maybe hitting 400 this month (assuming it cools off a little and it's not 100 degrees every day that might be doable).

Here's the ride log from last night: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/110936029

caphits

Congrats! For some reason my averages have been lowering. I remember one of my first rides was like 17.9 average. Todays was under 15! Maybe its because ive been going farther, or maybe its because ive been eating like crap...

engstrom

Thanks. And maybe you've average is lowering because of the heat. I know if really does affect me.

mkadam68

Good job. Keep it up.

This is key right here. I believe it was Merckx who, when asked what kind of training was require for his racing, responded, "Ride lots."

chasm54

It was Merckx. He was good on spinning vs mashing, too. When asked whether it was better to spin a small gear or mash a big one, he said "it's best to spin a big gear". LOL

Lynx69

Great job Engstrom! Seems we have similar goals. Our century degree weather is suppose to drop down into the high 70's next week in Southwest Missouri. Time to get some extra miles in. Happy Journeys!

chefisaac

great job!

I rode with a friend the other night and could only get to 13.7. I am happy about it but dan.... 17 looks gooooooood! Perhaps when I get thinner???

CraigB

Keep in mind, chef, that engstrom was on a group ride, or at least that's how his post reads. That's usually good for at least 1-2 mph extra.

engstrom

Absolutely it was a group ride and 1-2 mph extra sounds about right to me.

Of course the last 1 mile of the ride going home was by myself and I did manage to average 17.6 on that but there's no way I could do 28 miles at that pace by myself.

caphits

ugh. It has been beautiful weather lately.

mymojo

Congrats! You riding with the PBA? I keep telling myself I need to do the tweener ride (but I gotta work tomorrow)

engstrom

Yep, I've been riding with PBA - great group of people. I've been riding Tweeners but I'm going to give DB Lite a shot tomorrow.

mymojo

How'd the DB Lite experience treat ya this morning?

engstrom

It was fantastic. Challenging but I was able to hang onto the group for 48.21 miles at 16.8 MPH average. There was a fair amount of climbing on the ride (at least a fair amount for these flatlands) but even with that I came in with the group.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/111570474

mymojo

Very cool to hear. It was a nice (and windless) morning for a ride! I've been maintaining a 16.5-17 mph avg for my 20-25 miles solo rides, so riding with DB Lite might be a good short term goal for me to set for myself... I'm just not sure about the 48 mile part!

engstrom

You could always just try a ride with Tweeners at 37 miles and ~15.5 MPH and see how you do. If you have a lot of gas left in the tank then do DB Lite next time.