Thursday, December 22, 2011

A Great Year of Cycling

On March 1 of this year, I finally stepped up and purchased my first road bike, a Cannondale Synapse.  As a result of my road bike purchase, my obsession for cycling went into overdrive in 2011.  Here are some stats to prove how obsessed I have been the past 9 months.

Since March 1, 2011:

  • 4,525.45 - Miles ridden (I have become well acquainted with the pavement in the Phoenix area the past 9 months.  If you show me a picture of some asphalt on any of the routes I have ridden, I can almost guarantee I will be able to pinpoint where that stretch of pavement resides.  I know of all the bad spots and potholes to stay away from as well as all the sweet spots which make the ride a tad more comfortable.  I am willing to bet any avid cyclist could do the same.)
  • 233:23:03 h:m:s Total Time (That is a lot of hours in the saddle!  Surprisingly, I have yet to get a Saddle Sore.)
  • 58,445 - Total Elevation Gain (Not that much for 9 months of riding.  Most of my rides I get about 1,600 - 1,700 feet of Elevation Gain which isn't a ton.  I guess thats what I get for riding in the Phoenix area most of the time.)
  • 19.4mph - Average Speed (This is skewed a bit as 1/4 of my rides are on Bicycle Rollers where there isn't a ton of resistance.)
  • 156 BPM - Average Heart Rate (I'm hoping to get this lower in the next year as my fitness in Zone 2 and Zone 3 is finally coming around.)
  • 87 RPM - Average Cadence (It took me a while to realize I needed to spin the pedals over 90 RPM to be more efficient.  For about 4 months, I was riding too hard of a gear combination.  I didn't realize that the ride would go much easier and my pedal strokes would be more efficient if I shift down a gear and spin more.  I was making my legs hurt and my heart rate climb for no good reason.  I am no Jan Ullrich.)
  • 159,060 - Calories Burned (I have certainly noticed I am quite a bit more lean than I used to be.  My current weight is 154 lbs and I am 6'2".  I do eat a ton of food but with as much time as I spend on the bike, none of it seems to stick.)

Thinking back on all the rides this year, I believe my favorite ride was up in Napa, CA. which was a fundraiser for an amateur cycling team called Team Swift.  I did the 60 Mile route that day and attempted to ride with CAT1 & CAT2 amateurs.  I quickly realized I wouldn't be able to hang as they dropped me instantly.  It was a great experience for me and put things in perspective of how big the difference is between professional and "weekend warrior" like myself.  Let's just say, the delta is huge and those guys are in a different league than most human beings.  Here are screen shots of my output that day: