Bicycling 26Km

The weather was excellent, it was sunny and there was almost no wind (which is unusual here in the windy Denmark), so it was a perfect day for a bike ride so as I got home from work, I went out for a ride.

After a few Km I had to admit that I had thought it was a bit warmer than it really was and I missed a t-shirt under my bicycle jersey too keep me warm. Not that I was freezing, but it was a bit to cold for the clothes I had on… Well I hoped I could keep warm if I kept the pace all the way. After 7Km (4.3 miles) I had to decide to make this ride a short one (16Km) or go for the 26Km and that was a tough one. I decided to go for the 26Km but I was not that sure it was a good idea. After a few Km more it was too late to turn around as it would not get me home faster anyway so I could clear my mind and just enjoy the ride.

It ended up with I did the 26.2Km (16.3 miles) in the best time of the year with an average speed of 30.3Km/h (18.8mph). Wow ! I didn’t think I would be able to get into a shape this fast to break the average speed of 30Km/h.
Ten years ago I had no problem riding with an average speed of 35-40Km/h (21.7-24.8mph) on my 50Km (31 miles) trips, but back then I was in a really good shape and was doing 5000-8000Km (3106-4970 miles) a year on the bike.
As it takes years to get into that kind of shape I did not expect to break the 30Km/h this year but of cause I’m happy that I already did.
My goal is not to get into the shape I once had, but I would love to be able to do trips of 30-50Km with a approx. average speed of 30Km/h.

Leave a Reply