I went out this morning targeting a different ride that would last around an hour. My last ride on this route took an hour and 15 minutes so I was working to try to do it faster. I was hoping for under an hour. I did it! What an improvement!
Then I looked at the last ride to confirm the time so I could write about it here, and I noticed that I had done some exploring and taken a different path which included an off road trail. Oh well. Not such a great improvement necessarily. I have no baseline to compare to. Yet, I averaged 12.9 mph which is better than the 12.6 mph I averaged on my ride to the end of speedway and back, though there was 20 more feet of elevation gain going to the end of Speedway.
When I started out, I was cold. It was chilly when I first turned onto Speedway and went through the dip between Ridgeside and Houghton. I know that can be 5 to 10 degrees cooler than other areas - especially in winter when the cold air rolls down the Tanque Verde Creek from the mountains, but I wasn't expecting it this time of year. It was kind of refreshing.
As I was on Tanque Verde going past The Lakes at Castle Rock, I saw an upright cyclist behind me gaining on me. My testosterone, what little of it I have left, kicked in and I told myself I would not let them catch me before I crested the hill ahead. I kicked up the speed and my heart rate. I was able to stay ahead over the top of the crest and maybe 70 feet down the other side. They asked where I was going and all I could do was pant because I was so out of wind. They laughed. It was fun!