A lot of hard miles on cheap gas

A couple of years ago I worked with an older gentleman who used to tell me his life had been full of a lot of hard miles on cheap gas. Yesterdays ride reminded me a lot of that.

Yesterday afternoon things suddenly got quiet around the house so I was successful in getting clearance from the boss to go on a short bike ride. Since I was only going on a short ride I decided to head over to Smoky Point and back from our house.

While I was climbing up the fist hill to Highway 9 I started thinking about what I had eaten that day. My Saturday diet had consisted of a bowl of granola for breakfast and three cookies and a slice of banana bread for lunch. If I had to categorize this food that I would be using as fuel for riding I would definitely call it some cheap gas. I think it was my version of AM/PM gas. It gets the job done but no one’s car runs very well on it.

The ride down to Smokey Point was pretty fast after the first hill. This is my favorite part of the ride as it’s a gentle descent most of the way there. Since it’s slightly downhill most of the way there I was able to ride around 20 MPH which is pretty fast for me.

The ride back home was kind of a struggle. On previous rides when I’ve pushed myself I’ve found that my legs were the thing that has held me back. This time around it was my lungs. My legs were doing fine but I was panting like a dog in the sun on a super hot day. I pushed my breathing to the edge of a side ache but just under it.

I was shooting for an average of 15 MPH for the ride but I ended up just under my goal. I ended the ride at 14.7 MPH. When I got home I looked at my time for the last time I rode this route and I noticed that I had beaten it by 3 minutes so I must be getting fitter through all of this training.

Yesterday’s ride was a lot of miles on cheap gas but all in all I was faster than before. Maybe I should change my diet. NOT!

Stats
Distance: 16.75 miles
Avg MPH: 14.7
Time: 1:08.