I want to ride faster

[RoadRaven]

The same 33 mile ride ridden over the years has gone from a 2.5 hour effort to a fairly consistent 2 hours. Why wouldn't this be a measure of my fitness?

It is the perfect measure of your fitness.

The same course, in similar conditions, repeated at intervals over the year (or measured at intervals over the year if you ride it often).

Half an hour is excellent improvement!

[SadieKate]

Thanks, I know it is. I was being a bit sarcastic at the statement that average speed on flat ground isn't useful.

[jobob]

You? Sarcastic?

nahhhhhhh ...

Geeze you'd think my 2000th post would be something erudite and worthwhile to befit the occasion.
nahhhhh ....

[indysteel]

Since we're on this topic, I'd like to bring up my current speed issue. I got my road bike at the end of July. By September, I was averaging between 16 and 17 miles per hour for most rides, assuming that it wasn't too windy and/or the route wasn't too hilly. Now that the weather has taken a turn for the cold, my average rides have gotten slower. I managed an average of about 16.3 the other day but the winds were calm. I dress for the weather and don't feel overly cold once I'm warmed up, and I certainly feel like I'm working hard. Is my slower pace just a function of the cold, the density of colder air, and how much harder my "engine" has to work in the cold?

[KayTee]

Indy, it's the cold weather. Our bodies have to work harder just to keep us warm, let alone pedaling hard. I, too, ride way slower in the cold.

[SadieKate]

I find that it takes much longer to warm up. I don't feel cold but my legs can feel like lead for twice as long as a normal warm-up.

[indysteel]

I'm glad it's not just me. I think my perception of what is and isn't a windy day has really changed, too, this winter. In the summer, I'd think it was windy if there was even a slight breeze. What a laugh! I would pay top dollar for a day like that now when the wind nearly knocks me down most rides.

Of course, slow or not, I'm very grateful that the weather's been so nice and that I'm remained healthy this winter. There's only been one weekend that I couldn't ride at all and that was a bit by choice (I decided to beat myself up in a 2.5 hour yoga class instead). I might not get a ride in this weekend either with rain/snow predicted but I'm taking tomorrow off and the skies look clear. At the end of the day, I'd rather be slow than grounded.