Second Ride on a Sunny March Day

As you may notice, I will likely be documenting my various outdoor rides throughout this blog. This simply gives me a way to track some of the progress I make on the bike throughout the season. You are obviously welcome to read about the rides – or ignore them.

Today’s ride was only the second time outside on the bike. My body is now reminding me of the whole-body fatigue feeling that comes from pushing it harder than it is used to being pushed. It’s not only my legs that hurt – but it seems like everything else has gone a few rounds with a prize-fighter. It tells me that recovery time will be just as important as the time on the bike. That’s probably the biggest sign of my age – it takes a while to bounce back.

The weather conditions were actually similar to yesterday’s ride, with a little warmer temps. Here are the details:

• Temp: 52degF
• Sunny with no clouds in the sky
• moderately windy at 15MPH from the south-southwest

I rode a slightly longer distance than yesterday and chose a different route. Although the winds were about the same, I was able to take advantage of some shelter during the ride, which brought my average speed up slightly. Here are some details:

• Start time: approx 1:45pm
• distance: 17.8miles
• avg speed: 17.1mph
• duraction: 1:03
• bike odometer: 32 miles

Here is a map via MapMyRide.com.

Just a point of note that my average speed includes around 2 miles of snaking through my neighborhood backroads and stopsigns before I actually hit the main road. I’m just choosing to be consistent with my measurements and am taking the reading directly from my doorstep and back to my doorstep.

The bike is performing wonderfully and with only two brief rides outside, I am now beginning to appreciate the modern technology. Just being able to shift directly from the riding position is a major change. I find myself using the gears with a lot more frequency, since it is so convenient to access the changes. Plus, with 10 cogs on the rear wheel, it seems like I never run out. There is always one more that allows me to go faster or slower. Compared to the old bike, I wonder if I give up too early, instead of trying to pedal harder in a bigger gear to get over a hill. Since my average speeds are a little faster than I experienced on the old bike early last year, I’ll assume that the extra down-shifting isn’t hurting my average speed.

As much as I’d like to claim that I ride to simply enjoy the open road and the joys of challenging my body – the reality is that it allows me to enjoy some of life’s great indulgences. In this case – I prepared myself a nice steak sandwich, showcased on the right. It was a cheap, chuck steak, but I dressed it up with some muenster cheese, arugula greens, wasabi mustard, and caramelized onions. This was all presented on a fresh ciabatta bun that I spread some olive oil and toasted in the same pan that I cooked the steak. Good stuff.

The real indulgence is the wine. Today’s choice is a real simple Louis M. Martini Sonoma County Cab. This is always a wonderfully, drinkable wine with low tannins and lots of nice spice. It always goes well with beef and is one of my staples for the occasion.