Two new personal records

One of the great things about cycling is that you can make little goals for yourself, and then when you hit them you have something to celebrate even though it may not have look like any great thing.  This morning was an example of that. 

In road riding we have what we call “false flats.”  That’s a section of road that looks like it would be flat—if you were driving it in your car you’d never know it wasn’t—but it’s really a long, gradual uphill.  They’re the sort of thing that kind of take you by surprise.  You can see hills coming—there’s no surprise to them.  But on a false flat you just sort of realize after awhile that it’s really hard pedaling or you’re going slower than usual for no apparent reason.  Then you realize you’re on a false flat.  So there are several of these around here, one in particular on a road that we ride on fairly frequently.  Brenda had set a goal for herself that she wanted to be able to ride that whole false flat one day at 15+ mph.  And today was that day!  She powered up the whole thing, maybe dipping down below 16 at one point, but never going below 15.  It didn’t look like anything special to the rest of the group, but for us, it was a woo-hoo moment!  Can I get a woo-hoo?

And the next record came at the end of the day.  This was a 46-mile ride, but probably about 15 miles or so of that is on a trail.  Trails are notorious for slowing down your average speed because you’ve got to slow down to go around people walking their dogs, or their kids, and you’ve got to go real slow to negotiate a handful of sharp turns and stuff like that.  But after we got off the trail, toward the end of the ride, we went down Tuscawilla and East Lake at 19-20 mph the whole way.  And Brenda was right in there, about the 3^rd one from the front, hanging with the group the whole way.  And she ended the day with an average of 16.3 mph.  Again—that doesn’t sound like anything very earth-shaking, but it’s her personal best for a ride of that length.  And we count it as a special accomplishment because she did it on a trail ride, and she did it with a very strong finish!  It’s always a good thing when you finish strong, and Brenda did a great job of it today.  I think that ought to count for an extra woo-hoo!