Ride 19 - Week 6 of Biking To Live Begins

Well, with the holiday weekend behind me it’s time to get back in the saddle. Literally. It was nice to take three days off and let my body recuperate some.

I got started this morning on my normal weekday route (which I keep extending just a little each couple of rides and today was no different). I was really surprised at how cool it was. Almost too cool for short sleeves. It was crystal clear out with the half-moon in the Southeast and Jupiter in the South dominating the sky. A few clouds crept in by the time I was done riding but nothing bad.

There were a few cars out this morning and I had given up all hopes in seeing any riders/runners when I caught a glimpse of a rider a ways ahead of me. They must have turned out in front of me as I didn’t see them on the long straightaway at the start of my ride. After following them at a distance of about 300 feet for a couple of miles they either kicked it in the rear or turned off because I lost’em and never saw them again. I saw a lone runner on the straightaway back home. I see her almost everyday.

My ride was pretty good. After being off for three days it took a couple of miles to get accustomed to the saddle again. I’m still not totally happy with my saddle and really need to look for a better one. Once my sit-bones had overcome their shock of being off for three days I began to settle in nicely and was able to slowly increase my pace from about mid-ride to the end. At the start I was averaging about 14 mph and by the end I was pushing 17+ mph in spots. Overall the ride was very good. I believe I’m almost to the point where I need to start adding another ride day into the week. With school getting out in a couple of weeks I’ll also have a little more time to ride in the mornings and will be able to almost double my daily morning mileage.

Here are today’s numbers: 12,55 miles, 49:12, 19.2 mph max, and 15.3 mph average