On Averages

It has been a modest goal of mine to maintain an average speed on a ride of 30km/h. Now my GPS is considerate enough to stop the clock at speeds of less than 4.8km/h (except that in reality by the time the thing clues in that I am in the "auto pause" speed zone my foot is typically on the ground waiting for a green light.) That said, I have achieved my goal a few times, but not so often that I don't get excited when I see that glorious "three zero" on the GPS at the end of the ride.

Anyway I have found that the more I ride back country roads the faster my average speed. When I ride to work, from The Beach to downtown, cranking out 28km/h is a hammerfeast that entails racing faster than cars, but when I go out McCowan road to Ravenshoe (or further) and back, breaking the 30km/h limit is almost easy.

Now part of the explanation must be the air quality. There is little evidence of human activity on McCowan road, no people means less pollution. As well it is very easy to zone out on McCowan, there are few things to make me zone back in so maintaining a steady prolonged hammer is not overly hard. But the main reason must surely be the simple fact that I can ride for miles with little, if any reason to ever stop. (I would like to think that if I were not so exhausted by the time I reached the border, my performance on the way to Rochester would have been much better for the same reason.)

I guess the moral here really is, hell is other people. Okay I am being cynical, hell is cars and crowds. Now a big pelaton of cyclists, usually that is a good thing.

I have posted up on the BCC site a ride to lake Simcoe for labour day. It might very well be the last chance I have to ride there until 2010, so far no takers. Actually one guy read the post and said he would rather ride on Tuesday night which I do not understand, okay granted Tuesday night only takes three hours, Lake Simcoe requires six hours, but Lake Simcoe is more than twice as far and it is during the day, with less traffic, a lot less traffic. Anyway, if anyone reading my blog wants to do a nice long road ride I am open to two options: a. we hammer 170km with a couple quick stops for water refills or b. we go a a strong but not overly fast pace and enjoy the scenery. Either option works for me.

I must have BO or something, it seems like almost every ride I organize has absolutely no takers, well Aaron came with me once, last summer. Oh well, at least I'll be good and strong for a time trial.