Road cycle tempo (Cross bike road mode) 2:32:00 [4] 62.1 km (2:27 / km) +59m 2:26 / km
ahr:140 max:157 shoes: Specialized SWorks road
Ride your age bonus ride and earliest ever 1000km to start a year
March 1, on the way to the beach I gave Mrs. a chance to comment on riding my age. Target was 7. I thought 10 was easily in range, but might be hard to repeat at home. She said in didn't have to count them all, certainly thinking ahead to 4+ hr sessions on the fat bike in the snow. Official ruling pending.
18C and light wind with radar showing the storm out to sea. I took the northern beach route, which is the most satisfying. The sun came out over the clouds at 8km and I tried to resist the temptation to watch the interval times and push them. 3 km from the turn around, I caught the edge of the rain clouds but decided I would carry on with the route and be back in the sun in about 15 minutes.
It was actually 15km before I saw the sun again and even then it was quite spotty giving me a total of about 5 km of sun until I got back to the house. Being on the edge of the rain also brought out the worst of the wind. The sky cleared as I made the turn onto the beach road at Surfside and stayed clear. I shot past the house to finish the route that has given me just over 60km most of our time here.
At the south turn around I had a good chance to compare the headwind versus tailwind pace. I thought about pulling in at the house - 1.5 km short of 60 with the detours gone, but shot by to get a full tailwind interval, then turned back for a short cool down into the headwind. Differential was a whopping 5 km/hr, most of which I didn't benefit from having started with an inconsequential NW wind to start and finishing with a strong SSW.
Nutrition: 3/4 of a honey stinger chew pack, 2/3 tailwind, could have used a bit more but didn't want the gel I had late in the ride