Century Training Series: Day 16

Ok, now that I’ve gotten the first two weeks under my belt I’m re-starting at week 1 of the 10 week Century Training Plan. Yesterday was a rest day and today called for a one hour endurance pace ride. The pace I’ve set for myself for my century is 15 mph.

I arrived at the tennis center off of Fair Oaks Avenue at about 6:15 and put my bike together. The weather was actually very nice. Not too hot, a few clouds and a little breeze. A great day to ride. After getting everything ready I headed on out to do my 15 minute warm up.

Once the warm up was complete I was cruising along at 15 mph in the big ring and rest my computer so I could get a good, accurate, reading on my one hour endurance ride. After about 10 minutes I noticed that I was cruising along at 16.5 mph with no problem. I backed off some but noticed again a few minutes later that I was back up over 16 mph. At that point I decided not to fight it and just fell into a comfortable rhythm.

There are four hills around the White Rock Lake loop that I ride that vary from long and steady to short and steep. I attacked each one riding as hard as I could and keeping my pace above 15, sometimes 17 mph. The short steep hill I was unable to maintain the high pace but pushed up it as hard as I could. I would continue this pace for just about two full laps of White Rock Lake. Once the hour was up I backed way down on the pace and did some easy spinning on the way back to my car. I pulled my computer off the bike and put in my jersey pocket so as to preserve my one hour data. Here are the numbers:

Total Time (h:m): 1:00
Total Distance: 16.83 miles
Avg Speed: 16.7 mph (yeah!)

When I first started riding the loop down at White Rock Lake several months ago it would take me anywhere from 40-45 minutes to complete a loop. Today I completed my first loop in 33 minutes. Amazing.

http://bikingtolive.com Bryan

Thanks. I guess I don't understand your question. Yes, I was riding in the big ring. Should I instead be in the small ring and maintaining the same speed? Am I against spinning at a high cadence? Not necessarily. I may be confused on how I should be spinning and in what gear/ring.
http://www.331miles.blogspot.com 331miles

Good job! Amazing how quickly you are improving. One thing caught my eye — 16 mph in the big ring? Are you against spinning at high cadence?
http://mildstallion.wordpress.com Al

Isn't it great when you can get a really concrete sense of your improvement? I remember a one hour ride leaving me useless for the rest of the day.

Now I can ride for 3 hours and be able to function (enough) afterward.

Chapeau.

http://bikingtolive.com Bryan

It is great to see concrete results.

Also, congrats. You are comment number 1000 on Biking To Live. Wish I had a cool prize to give you. Instead, you’ll just have to imagine yourself riding your dream bike instead.

http://mildstallion.wordpress.com Al

Woo hoo! I've always dreamed of riding a '92 Schwinn Worldport.

*Sweet!*
http://www.331miles.blogspot.com 331miles

Bryan — didn't mean to be snarky in my comment. I'm surprised the training plan doesn't call out cadence. My suggestion, and it's only a suggestion, is to turn at 90-95 rpm and use whatever gearing allows that cadence. Typically, on a relatively flat training ride, that will be small ring spinning. Good luck!

http://bikingtolive.com Bryan

Jeff, I didn't think that at all. I'll admit that I probably suffer from inadequacy syndrome on the bike and think that I have to push the big ring all the time. I do feel like I get a better workout that way but it's probably not the most efficient way to do it. I need to stay in the small ring and push a smaller gear in the back to get the same speed but with a smaller amount of effort.

I have no idea what my cadence is right now when I'm riding. I guess I could count for 15 seconds and multiply by four but ideally I should get a computer with cadence.

Because I get passed all the time down at the lake loop I have a lot of time to take note of what other people are pushing and how fast. The large portion (probably 90%) of people I see are pushing the big ring, in a small gear in back, with what looks to be like a very low cadence. This obviously gives them good speed but it's probably not the most efficient way to ride. I smell an article on cadence brewing.