The prep was longer than the ride...


Today was my long bike ride. Although an hour and thirty minutes is not a long ride, it was on the schedule. 

Before the ride, I had to put on my new bike computer, a Wahoo Elemt Bolt. It took a lot more time than I thought it would. I'd say it took me a couple of hours just to figure it all out, setting up the display, connecting to the power meter, cadence, and heart rate monitor, and then putting on a safety flashing light on the front of the bike. 

It shouldn't have been that hard when I think back after doing it all. But that's after looking at many YouTube videos and reading online. 

I'm glad I did take the time to put on the bike computer. It made the ride much more enjoyable to see my speed, wattage, cadence, and heart rate monitor on one screen. I've never trained with a power meter before, and seeing how much wattage I was pushing was interesting. 

When I was pushing 250 watts or more on the bike, it felt like old times. Even when I was pushing 300 watts or more, it felt like old times. 

I found myself much more stable and comfortable on the bike today. It was my third ride, and the first time, I felt stable enough to lift one of my hands off the handlebar to take a drink from my water bottle or wave to another cyclist. 

In addition to the computer on the bike, I tried my new sunglasses. I ordered a pair similar to an older pair to see if they work better when I enter the aero bar position. They worked much better. I still had neck pain at a certain point, which was to be expected until I spent more time in the aero position, but the glasses allowed me to see further down the road than the others I have. 

It was my best ride so far. My heart rate stayed lower than normal, and my average speed has been faster than any of the rides since starting 10 weeks ago. It didn't get over 135 bpm very often and was often in the 120s, a sign that I'm physically getting stronger. 

As I mentioned in earlier posts, this week of training feels like a turning point. It's like I pulled myself out of the abyss and am now on the outer edge, starting to move away from the black hole. The gravity of the black hole is losing its strength, and I'm gaining strength. 

It was a nice ride. I even took a different route that passes by this old church, built in 1853, which I always liked looking at.


Bike - 1:42:02 / 45.19 / 26.6 kph 

Weekly Training - 7 hours 5 min.

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