This thread just confirms my depressing riding situation. My average is getting worse. Two years ago most of my rides, on rolling terrain averaged just under 16. Sure, I ride with people who average 13 quite a bit, but when I rode with my husband, I could crank it up. Then, when I got sick last year, I lost a lot of strength, despite the fact I never totally stopped exercising. I didn't ride much last fall, though, but I did walk, do yoga, etc. Over the winter I slowly built up my endurance with x country skiing, hiking, snow shoeing. I've tried to get back into weight training, but it's sporadic. I felt good in the beginning of the season, but since May I've had a lot of ups and downs. After my tour across MA, which involved 4 days of really challenging climbs, I should have rested, but I didn't. Then I went for my orientation course on the Cape and I took my bike. I wasn't sleeping well and I felt like I was getting sick, with allergies, swollen glands, etc. Getting up at 5 AM to ride made me look tough to the younger people, but it did me in. It took 4 weeks to get over the thing I had and now my fibro. symptoms are acting up. I swore I wouldn't miss another fall of riding, since the weather is gorgeous.
After a particularly bad week of symptoms, I started feeling better; I rode Tuesday and my average was 14.2 on my regular loop of 15.7 miles, that ends in a 10-15% climb. Yesterday I felt better while riding, but my average was 13.6 . Granted, I did go on a route that involved a little slowing due to traffic situations.... I am trying to look at this as like the time I had the flu really bad and I had to stop teaching aerobics for 5 weeks afterwards. I swam instead to build up my strength. I don't want to stop riding, but I am just telling myself to go slow and maybe I'll end up going fast. Another month of this, and I will concentrate on weight training, hiking, and spin class. I usually ride outside through December, but once November comes, it's sporadic. It's just so depressing. I know that I still do more than most people, and I'm not competing against anyone but myself. My "regular" friends think I'm nuts for worrying about this, but I find myself enjoying riding my Jamis around town and for errands more than riding my road bike...