Hammer Time!

Took yesterday off as a recovery day. I'd done about 125 miles and almost 8 hrs in the saddle since Monday, so I didn't feel too bad about taking a day off. The rest did me quite a bit of good. I rode the same course I rode Tuesday, and took over 15 min. out of Tuesday's time. The route can be seen here.

I knew things were going well when I reached the junction of Avery Drive and SH 51 (about mile 7.5 on the linked map) with an average speed of 18 mph. Turned onto 51, grabbed my drops and cruised between 19.5 mph and 20.5 mph for the next 4-4.5 mi. The long climb beginning at mile 12 and the shorter climb which followed it knocked my average speed down to 18.0 mph from a max of 18.4 mph. Didn't have to use the granny ring of my triple, though.

Crossed Keystone Dam and cruised at about 18-19 mph on the flat section from mile 18 to 23. Average speed climbed to about 18.2, which I managed to hold through the rollers on Avery Drive (about mile 27.5 through 31 on the map). By this time I'm beginning to feel the strain, and my average slips back to 18.1 by the time I reach the end of the mapped course.

I rode (and counted in my mileage and time) about 2.25 miles each way to get to the start of the mapped route, which brought my total mileage up to 39.5 miles for the ride.

Time for the ride was 2:10:39. Average speed 18.1 mph. Maximum speed was 38.1 mph. Average heart rate was 151 (80% of max). Maximum heart rate was 172 (91% of max).