Activity: road cycling
Location: Dupont Circle, DC > Potomac, MD
Distance: 45.9 miles (hilly, then mostly flat)
Duration: 2:08 (first 39.0 miles) & 0:48 (last 6.9 miles)
Weather: sunny, 70 degrees
Avg HR: 158 (max. 183) & 140
Type: aerobic
This was one ride, but in two phases.
The first phase was a hardcore ride: going at a high pace, high-exertion level. This, my heart rate was up quite a bit. But I had an average speed of 17.5 mph. for this part, and I felt good: excellent pace, no muscle cramp, good fluid and electrolyte intake. My prep for metric and English centuries goes quite well.
The second phase was tacked on when sprite called me from her ride, wondering if I’d like to join her for the return leg. She was on the C&O Canal Towpath, so I rode down through Georgetown (I was a mile from home when she called), joined the muddy path, and rode out to meet her at Fletcher’s Boathouse. This ride was a good cool down ride, and also great for working on an even spin and balance (a road bike on a muddy trail is not exactly the most stable of beasts). And we saw geese, ducks, turtles and cormorants, which was simply wonderful.
sprite
24 April 2006 — 10:37
I’d like to point out that the reason the second part of the ride took Rudi so long (and why my average speed is always so low) is not just because I’m a slow rider. It’s also because I like to stop and see things, which means a lot of starts and stops, sometimes just 50 feet apart.
I figure if I’m going to be outside, I ought to take advantage of that and actually notice what’s going on around me. Yesterday, I got to see turtles sunning themselves, a family of Canada geese, and two trees full of cormorants. No one stopped to notice a tree full of unusual birds even though we stood gawking for ten minutes or so. What a loss.