Every (just about every) Sunday morning I bike with a group of men dubbed "Band of Brothers" (I was pulling for "Holy Rollers") a 15 mile loop at about 15-16 mph. Yesterday morning I got up with the idea of riding 20 miles at an average speed of 20 mph for my 40th birthday! (20 + 20 = 40)
Unfortunately, after 15.45 miles, my buddy Randy and I had only averaged 19.3 mph and I felt ready to die...I had forgotten to mention to him that I was thinking to do a little longer ride and therefore was hoping to take it a little easier than he was capable of. After a brief rest, I decided that I could possibly still do 40 miles for my 40th birthday. So I told Randy that I was thinking to do a little longer ride and he quickly said that he would do the loop again with me. I hadn't yet told him how far I was thinking to go and so he took off in the lead at 18+ mph again.
Panting and puffing we finished the loop (backward) a second time having dropped to an average speed of 18.3 mph after just under 32 miles. At this point I tell my "friend" that I figure I will just SLOWLY ride around the neighborhood until I reach an even 40 miles. To which he says; "The park is about 4.5 miles, how about we ride there and back?" What was I suppose to say--I would have never made it this far on my own. So, off again at a "leisurely" 17+ mph. However, when I knew I was more than 4 miles out, I asked Randy (who I think would have ridden all day) if it was OK with him if we turned around and headed back.
By the time we FINALLY hit 40 miles, our average speed had dropped to "only" 17.8 mph for the 2 hours and 15 minutes that we had been actually pedaling. I tacked on an extra 1.23 miles by the time we stopped, so I don't have to do this again next year!
Those of you that are not yet impressed, please refer to the picture in the Ignorant Americans post on this blog site and notice the extra baggage I am toting around my middle section that real cyclist don't have to carry.
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