Peter’s Blog

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.

Just came home from a nice 33.5Km (20.8 miles) bike ride. I had modified my 26Km route to make it longer but I don’t know if I will ever use this longer route again.

The problem was that I had to drive through a little village with a traffic light and it’s very annoying to stop when you are driving with a good pace (and yes it was red for a long time). Another downside was that there were some bicycle tracks and in Denmark you have to use them if they are there. Often, and especially in this case, they are made for people that ride bikes in a slow pace, like children that rides bikes to school. In this case it ran a little on the left side on the road, then on the right side and then on the left side again. Passing the road from side to side was done on pedestrian crossings. I did not go by the bicycle tracks but kept going on the road as it was both faster and safer for me. Usually it’s not a problem, but from time to time you meet people in cars that are annoyed because they know you should be on the bicycle track so I try to avoid routes where there are bicycle tracks.

I think I will try to find a way around the little village so I can use some of the route but bypass the village, as there were some fun hills I really liked and it’s a longer route then the 26Km…..

Well, all in all it was a nice ride, even that it was rather hard at some stages because of a hard wind. The average speed was 29.5Km/h (18.3mph).

Once again I went out for a ride on my nice 26.2Km (16.3 miles) route. I really like this route because of the nature and it has a nice length. It’s not too long so it can be done in a little less than an hour. This time I did it in a little less than 55 minutes and ended up with an average speed of 29.1Km/h (18.1mph).

Today I only did the short 16.2Km route (10 miles). I have to admit that I wasn’t in the mood for a bicycle ride so to get out at all I decided to go for the short one. Average speed was 26.1Km/h (16.2mph) and reflects that I wasn’t minded for the ride.

Yes, just did another 26.2Km (16.3 miles) but not without problems. After 15.7Km I got a flat tire and had to change the tube… And I can see I’m not used to do that - it took me 11 minutes to do and I got a flashback on how annoying my mini bicycle pump is.

But if we look at the good side : The pump worked (Have only used it a couple of times in 10 years)

After all it was a nice ride and I ended up with a average speed of 29.3Km/h (18.2mph) - speed calculated without the time for the tire/tube change.