Around half way into my ride today, I realised that I was riding a little faster than normal and feeling pretty good. Stopping for coffee at around 30 miles (50k/m), my average speed was 18mph (29km/h), faster than I'd ever ridden. I put it down to a tailwind as the wind was around 13mph (20km/h).
Heading back I went into the wind and it was pretty gruelling, nevertheless I decided to put the effort in with a raised heart rate and see if I could keep the average speed up. Inevitably, it was going to take some effort and I eventually arrived home with an average speed of 17.8mph (28.6km/h), a new personal best for me.
Checking my stats out, my average heart rate on the back 20 miles was significantly raised, indicating the wind strength, the table below refers. Working at that level effort (my maximum is 181bpm) means you have to keep your carbohydrates topped up and I ensured I had a yoghurt with 45g of carbohydrate in when I stopped, plus a gel.
A Few Records
I got a copy of the CTT handbook this week and within it there is lots of information about records for certain distances. There's nothing like looking at your own effort to understand where you fit in the food chain of fast cycling. Check out some of these times by time trialling experts: -
10 mile time trial - 18 mins :07- Michael Hutchinson
25 mile time trial - 47mins :01- Michael Hutchinson
100 mile time trial - 3hrs 23mins- Michael Hutchinson
12hour time trial - 302 miles covered - A. Bason
24hour time trial - 541 miles covered - A. Wilkinson
Quite phenomenal times and displays of endurance cycling I'm sure you'll agree. I'm a long, long way from any of those, but then again I don't take things anywhere as seriously! Still, I'll bank today's little personal achievement and see if I can build on it.
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