I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike

I have Queen’s "Bicycle Race" song on my mp3 player. Most of the lyrics are pretty stupid – were they high when they wrote that song? Or, maybe they weren’t 😉 I love the chorus, tho…

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

I was riding on Orange Grove Road and took a picture with my camera phone to show what a pretty day it was. This has become my favorite route – it’s a long stretch of road with no stops in rural Orange County. It is smooth with a decent shoulder, and has just the right amount of rolling hills to keep things interesting. Oh, and there’s that llama I saw last time – I saw him again today!

I was riding down one of those long hills which is immediately followed by a long gradual climb. The picture doesn’t do the hill justice…it’s one of those hills – not terribly steep, but long – that I used to look ahead at with dread. Now I just think, “Yeah, look at that hill”!

The temperature was 53 degrees. I was wearing my cycling shorts, jersey, a long sleeved technical shirt and my cycling jacket, sleeves removed and tucked into my back pocket early on in the ride. I also had my cycling gloves on. I don’t usually wear them (what are those for, anyway?), but thought they might help keep my hands warm. I was chilly going fast downhill, and I was warm going uphill. I felt just right otherwise. I don’t think it’s possible to dress so that you feel perfect during the entire ride. My toes were a tiny bit cold when I got home.

I once read this tip on how to dress for workouts: If you are going out on a bicycle ride, dress as if it was 10 degrees colder. If you are going out for a run, dress as if it was 10 degrees warmer. That advice works well for me!

Ride Stats: I rode 41 miles today, average speed 15.8 mph. Average Heart Rate: 141. Max HR 222 (I get those spikes when I go under power lines). I Tackled Borland Hill w/out a problem. I didn’t use my granny gear at all. Don’t know why – I just didn’t feel the need to. I decided next time I ride I will time myself going up Borland Hill, and try to beat the time each subsequent ride. While I feel I am at a very good place with my cycling skills, I think I need to start giving myself challenges so I continue to improve rather than merely maintaining the status quo.

When I am riding my bicycle, I don’t fret over my average speed. I just relax and have fun and focus on riding well (see earlier post). For some reason, my bike race splits are alot faster than my training rides. I think part of that is having to stop at intersections and traffic lights. I also think race day adrenaline plays a role.

Hmmm…maybe I need to apply these same principles during my runs: forget about pace, relax, have fun, focus on running well.