Base1 End Bike Test

Wow, that was quite the improvement. Apparently not having to stop and walk the bike through snow multiple times during a time trial really improves the overall performance.

So my testing week bike time trial was yesterday, and although I'm still not certain the choice of routes I made was the best considering the general patchiness of the path and the 6 road intersections that create a variable with possible stops. However, I'm going to go with it because it's relatively convenient and I've now logged 2 times there already.

My course is a 7.3 mile route that goes between two small towns outside Cincinnati along the Little Miami Bike Trail (a nice rails to trails route that connects to most other major cities in Ohio). Last time I rode it as I alluded to earlier was four weeks ago when there were still patches of snow along the route (see previous blog entry). On that ride, I was able to cover the distance at just about 18.4mph due to multiple slows/stops and accelerations. My average HR for this ride was 154, which is high for me on the bike. I assumed it wouldn't be too hard to improve, I just wasn't expecting the jump that I made.

Yesterday, the weather was great, but there was noticeably more wind than my first run. The course was clear, except for the other people out enjoying the outdoors who never really got in the way. Also, by a stroke of some luck, I made it through almost all the intersections without having to slow substantially. Must have been good timing. However, the last intersection just about 1.3 miles before the finish I did hit substantial traffic and had to stop completely for about 10 seconds. I made up for this loss of time as well as I could with a solid sprint once I got going again. So, without further ado...

Here are my numbers:
Distance: 7.31 miles
Time: 21:05
Avg speed: 20.8mph
Time difference (from previous best): -3:55
Avg HR: 144bpm

A huge improvement. After the original ride, I thought breaking 20mph avg in my final test would be an accomplishment. I guess I set the bar high for the next test. Also, I felt generally more relaxed (see the avg HR drop of 10bpm at the higher speed).

Along with the time trial, I also covered 10.8 miles warming up and cooling down combined at around 16.5-17mph. Just basically spinning it out. I'm feeling very good about my bike progress to date, and I still have speed work coming yet.

Tommorrow morning is my swim test. This one may be ugly. I'll let you know how it goes.