“Ride #98: Reader's Choice”

For the first time in months, rain kept me off the bike for a couple of days this week. (The dwindling corpse of Ophelia had no wind for us, but plenty of rain.) In fact, if the weather hadn't been so completely rideable all summer, I probably wouldn't have let the rain stop me (at least not both days). It was supposed to keep raining today -- that's what they were saying late last night -- but it was sunny and warm all day today.

When I left for today's ride, I was planning to check out some new hills I'd found Tuesday, driving around Ledyard looking for someone's house. By the time I reached Ledyard, though, I knew my average speed was pretty good and decided I should, instead, see if I could keep it up. I stuck with my regular route (still a little hilly, but they're hills I know).

In the end I was a wee bit slower than I had hoped for, but still fast enough that it leaves me in a quandary. I can't decide if this is another personal best! :-)

Which do think think is better: 21 miles (33.8 km) at approximately 22 mph (35.4 kph), or 38.3 miles (61.6 km) at 21 mph (33.8 kph)? I'm leaning towards the shorter ride still being my best, but I guess it's obvious that rides of different length and profile aren't very easy to compare.

I can't believe I'm actually riding at 21 mph these days. Can I do 22 mph semi-regularly if I can drop another 20 pounds of this useless fat? Darren joked with me the other day that if I keep losing 35 pounds in season, and gaining 20 in the off season, I'll eventually weigh nothing! Not sure what that would do for my average speed, though. ;-)

Stats: 38.3 miles (61.66 km) in 1h 49' 25" for an average speed of 21.00 mph (33.81 kph).