Ah, finally!

I had a solid ride today. It wasn't very long, but it was quite a workout!

Early this morning I took my Allez over to Sunshine. I knew they were very busy. They had just gotten a shipment of their 2007 bikes in and they were assembling them as well as doing service on other customers' bikes.

I kinda sheepishly approached the guys and asked if they thought my crank was loose. They said it sure was. So, I then asked, "I assume I would have to leave it here and it would be a while before you guys could get to it?" I put on my best sad face. They looked at each other. Then John said as he went back to work on the bike. "It will be ready at 5. We close at 6."

After I got off work, I went first thing and picked up the bike. It was all ready to go with no popping sounds from the bottom bracket. Before long I was on the bike headed over to the CVS at the foot of Paris Mountain.

It was about 3.75 miles from my house to there. Once in the parking lot I waited for just a minute for Chris to show up. He arrived just on time and we headed up the mountain. The climb was gradual with some almost flat areas where you could regroup before hitting the next climb. Then on the backside it was just speed, speed, speed. Of course, I didn't trust myself seeing that I am not used to it, so I didn't exceed 40 mph.

On the way back it is just straight up. I knew I would have to pace myself. So, I switched my computer to the cadence setting and just tried to keep my revolutions between 75 and 85 rpm. I also kept an eye on my heart monitor and managed to keep my bpm under 170 until the very end of the climb. At that point, it goes really steep and I came out of the saddle and just plodded up.

I made it! Then it was all fun as I went into high gear and started carving up the downhill. I felt more comfortable and ended up hitting about 42 mph on the way down. I probably could have gone faster except I slowed down to look for a cell phone I had seen during the initial climb up. I found it, but it was broken.

Overall, I'm pretty happy. Saturday morning, we are going to do the USA Cycling Pro route - twice. That means I'll get to climb the backside of the mountain two times. I can't wait -- not!

Today's Training Line:

Distance: 20.28 miles / Average Speed: 14.3 mph / Time: 1:24:46
Average Heart Rate: 158 bpm / Level 5: 0:36:46* / Work: 1565**

* Level 5 is the time heart beats between 165 and 183 bpm
** Comparative number to measure exertion during different sessions
Data collected by Sports Instruments ECG Pro 7 heart rate monitor and Cat Eye Astrale 8 cyclocomputer