The Best Ride In 3 Years

Today I rode my best average in 3 years. I did a 25 mile loop and averaged 17.3, way outpacing anything I did last year and posting my fastest ride since July 19, 2003, when I doled out an 18.6 on a 16 mile loop. Overall, this is the second fastest pace I have ever kept and the best for such a long ride. All of this on the heels of having ridden for 2 hours at Chimney Rock yesterday, having drank 3 beers last night, and having eaten a 3 egg omelet with 3 slices of bacon and 2 slices of cheese for breakfast.

I don't really know what to make of this, to be honest. I think a few things are obvious from the door. The first is that mountain bike riding does a much better job getting me in shape than road riding. Secondly, the beers aren't slowing me down. I'm already running better averages this year than at any point last year. Third, sleep helps much more than I suspected. I got a wonderful 9.5 hours of sleep last night and it showed today. Fourth, apparently a big (non-carb loaded) breakfast doesn't hurt. I suppose an argument could also be made for proper recovery and drinking lots of water, as well as stretching. But I've always done those things. The other 4 items are not entirely expected.

In any event, I'm probably in the best shape I could possibly be in for April. I didn't feel like I was lighting the world on fire when I was out there. In fact, I went out to ride a pace ride and enjoy the day, since it was such a nice one and I had ridden hard yesterday. But as I was almost halfway through, I noticed my average was up in the 17 area, and kept at it. I suppose another mention could be made for a slower start and warming up to the ride. That's probably a good fifth in the list above.

I also planted a bunch of pansies in the flower bed today. Maybe that's another key element in the mix.