Losing a Tooth Makes a Difference

Well, Mike was right.  It is “option c”, wear you out and strengthen your legs.

Regular readers will know that I changed cogs on the fixie last night, going from a 46/17 to a 46/16 gearing.  It is only one less tooth.  After a nearly 55 mile ride this morning, I’m toasted.  I’m seriously rethinking my strategy for the trip across the Eastern Shore on Wednesday.

It started out great this morning.  It was 70° F at the start of our ride, with 11 riders out.  I was the only one on a fixie.  We set an easy pace, and soon 10 of us were on our way to Annapolis for breakfast.  The food and company was good.  Myna supplied us with a nice desert.  We were on our way back to Severna Park by 7:00.  Fran was looking for a longer ride, so we rode together around the airport loop.  Before we crossed Aquahart Road, I was sweating profusely.  My headband was completely soaked and sweat was running into my eyes.  I had one 20 oz water bottle I was nursing for the whole distance.  (Note to self: get another water bottle cage for the fixie.)  Fran was anxious to show me another way back from the airport, and so I was riding on unfamiliar roads with rolling hills.  I hadn’t counted on rolling hills.  Here is a deadly combination  for me: Unfamiliar roads, rolling hills, high humidity (83%).  I started to get a little grumbly but kept it to myself.  After all, we are getting into summer weather here.  This is what we can expect for a few months.  Temps remained flat because of cloud cover.  Wind was light.  Those were two good things.

Once I got home, I was glad to be done.  There were quite a few times when the cadence was low, making it harder to press on.  Average cadence was only 2 rpm slower today for an average speed 0.4 mph faster.

Oh, I almost forgot!  Now that I have the smaller cog, I can go faster downhill.  I hit 36.1 mph (168 rpm) on the descent to the Naval Academy Bridge this morning.  That’s in less than ideal conditions (wind, humidity, fatigue).  I think there is still a little upside left here.

This Ride: 54.8 miles
Month: 652.8 miles
2012: 2250.6 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 16,104.2 miles