Lactate Threshold (Frenchman OB)

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	23.66 miles	2422 miles
Elevation Gain	718 feet	24.24 miles
Average Moving Speed	16.7 mph	15 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

This was a Lactate Threshold test ride, similar to the ones I did last year. You can find them all nicely grouped here. The Quick Stats data above includes the warm-up and cool-down. The relevant Lactate Threshold portion is the blue highlighted section of the graph linked below (and the data on the left side of the graphic is for that portion of the ride).

The difference between now and last year is that instead of doing a maximum effort 10-mile test (which for me was a little shy of 30 minutes) and using my average heart rate for the whole 10 miles, I am now doing a 30-minute test but using the average heart rate from only the last 20 minutes. Very similar. Just different. I think the current method allows your heart rate to stabilize so that the value is more reflective of reality. Or something like that. Relying on what others recommend here. Of course I myself have no clue!

The nice thing about my current iBike software is that I can still compare to my previous 10-mile time-trial tests since I have all the data...

10-mile TT	7/2009	8/2009	6/2010
Time	29m 21s	29m 18s	28m 40s
Average Moving Speed	20.44 mph	20.48 mph	20.93 mph
Average Heart Rate	156 bpm	158 bpm	160.9 bpm
Average Heart Rate (last 20 minutes)	n/a	n/a	165.9 bpm

So I have definitely improved since last year, which is nice to see. Now I just need to catch up to my dear wife!

Oh, if you're wondering what the LT is all about, you can search for it on the web and there is lots of stuff about it. I basically use it as my maximum heart rate, or the 100% value, and then have various heart rate zones that I try to stay within for specific training purposes. The Ultra Marathon Cycling Association's Heart Rate Training Zones page is a nice summary of what each zone is and under what conditions you should be in each zone.

Two County Double Metric Century

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	126 miles	2383 miles
Elevation Gain	3630 feet	23.99 miles
Average Moving Speed	16.6 mph	15.0 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

Another quality ride under our belts. This ride had two of our favorite things: lots of smooth roads and not much traffic. There were exceptions, but the vast distances of thoroughly enjoyable stretches far outweighed those exceptions.

It was a well-supported ride with stops about every 20 miles for a total of 5 stops. Good food selection. Oh, and the pavement markings were the best yet. I didn't ever actually need my cue sheet. I guess if I were picky I would say the cue sheet, based on MapMyRide.com, was nearly impossible to read due to the extremely small font. But of course I'm not picky so I won't say that.

We were told there would be watermelon at the end of the ride, but the big thing driving us forward was the chicken and dumplings waiting for us at Paul & Kay's upon our return.

Oh, the big downer was a flat tire only 2 miles from the finish. Bummer! Though after further reflection I think I would rather have a flat at the end versus at the beginning.

Mountain Lakes Challenge

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	95.25 miles	2,175 miles
Elevation Gain	8,073 feet	22.53 miles
Average Moving Speed	14.0 mph	14.9 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

All I can say is, awesome ride! I am definitely not as fit as I'd like what with all the rain (and therefore a lack of riding) over the last couple months. But it was still worth it. This ride was beautiful, had great roads (except one very rough stretch), low traffic, and extremely well supported food-wise. Can't ask for more than that!

Started out with a 7.5-mile climb at 6% average slope. In other words, all about cardio-shape. Amy rocked. I did okay at this point, but this first big climb pretty much took its toll on me and sapped my oomph for the last half of the ride. I tried to keep it in my climbing zone, but that just meant I had to go slow. I averaged an oddly constant 7 mph.

It was cold up at mile-high elevations. For climbing the temperature was perfect, but a bit cool for flats and quite COLD on descents. We were very thankful we remembered to bring our extra set of gloves each. Amy never took off her jacket. In fact you can see in the photo she warmed up at the camp fire on the lunch stop. Took my jacket off for the first climb and then later sometime in the middle when the sun came out during some climbing. But otherwise it was very needed for the descents. I never even considered removing my arm and leg warmers. Several folks wearing shorts said they were quite cold.

Strawberry Century

QUICK STATS	This Ride	2010 Cumulative
Distance	101 miles	2,023 miles
Elevation Gain	3,239 feet	20.28 miles
Average Moving Speed	17.0 mph	15.0 mph
Dog Bites	0	1

We did this ride last year and we enjoyed it then too. Weather was perfect. A bit cool to start out, but my arm warmers were just enough to keep me warm. And simple to shed later.