Since there was only one ride in the past week, and my legs felt a little achy and tired I figured today would be a good day to add more miles and more hills. That probably was not the smartest choice, but smart choices are not what I am known for. The first 18 miles went well, so I took the left turn off the Julian - Ramsuer road onto Old Liberty Road and headed for Gray's Chapel. There is a lot of uphill involved, but the only way to get better climbing is to climb. At some point my heart rate went way over max, to 180 bpm, and never really went down to "taking it easy" zone again. I was determined, though to get the most out of the ride, and I was comfortable with the higher than anticipated heart rates - I ended up with a162 average for the ride - but my legs were not happy at all. In true biker fashion, I pressed on regardless.
So, how did I fare? Well, 49.13 miles at an average of 16.8 mph. Not too bad if you consider that a lot of the last 20 miles was spent not only battling tired legs, but also attempting and failing, to bring the HR down to a reasonable number. I am SO out of shape.
Since I am planning on doing the annual Tour De Lions charity ride about mid May, and, of course, I want to do the 75 mile route, which just happens to have some steep climbs right at the end, so, there is a lot of work to do. Maybe I can get there.
Today's weather? Absolutely perfect NC spring. Eighty one degrees, full sun, not much wind. Does it get any better than that?
Tomorrow probably should be a recovery ride, but....
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2 comments:
You don't believe in easing back into it, do you =)
Good job!
Well, my intent was to, but something seems to have been lost in the translation. It was fun, I think. We'll see tomorrow.
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