Meanwhile, tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the very first cycle ride I recorded on Strava. It was probably only the second or third ride I did following my decision to get fit, and to do it through cycling.
Just one year ago it took me over 47mins to crawl around a seven mile loop, and no less that 12mins to make it up the Little Heath Lane Climb. It's a mile long and averages 5.2%, and I'm pretty sure I had to stop at least once as I wheezed and puffed my way up. A couple of weeks later on this hill I suffered the indignity of being overtake by a runner...
But all that really has changed. It was a glorious evening tonight, my first shorts only ride of the year, so I decided to undertake an Anniversary Challenge, to ride exactly the same route and see how what time I could manage.
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| Same route, very different times. 2012 on the left, 2013 on the right |
It went really well. I managed to average 17mph around the loop, arriving back in just 26mins 50seconds, more than 20mins quicker than I managed a year ago. And the climb? Nailed in five and a half minutes.
I don't think I've ever been fitter in my adult life than I am now. Unfortunately, though, this still isn't fit enough to succeed in the Ride100. With light and warm evenings finally here I'm looking forward to a lot more training again, and seeing even more improvement.
