A Fitness Check

Well, even though I haven't been posting much here, I have continued to ride pretty much every day. While I'm not going overboard as I did in 2006, I am slowly increasing my time and distance from week to week as I can given that my rides are also my commutes to work which restricts my time and ability to do longer rides.

Last week I covered about 80 miles in six days. I've settled into a good rhythm that goes something like:
Monday - rest day
Tuesday/Friday - moderate day (strong effort, not all out, moderate distance 10-15 miles)
Wednesday/Saturday - long day (moderate effort, longer distances 19-25 miles)
Thursday/Sundays - recovery days (light to moderate effort, short distance 6.5 miles)

I don't plan on adding too much more time to my rides, though the distance may increase as my weight goes down and my speed goes up. Since I started tracking it on 4/20, I've lost 36 lbs, or about 3 lbs per week. That is a bit high, but not too much so.

I did end up buying a new bike that better suits my commuting, a Trek 7.2 FX hybrid. I ordered it from East Burke Sports. The mainly carry mountain bikes, but are a Trek dealer and can order anything, so I ordered one from them the day after my birthday and it had arrived and was ready for me the next week. It has taken a little getting used to since the geometry and fit is a bit different from either my mountain bike or my Trek road bike, but it has worked out well for me. I've added a headlight, taillight and a rack with a pack on it to carry my change of clothes. All this adds a bit of weight to it, but that doesn't put it much heavier than my mountain bike which has a steel frame.

Today though I decided to ride the "distance" part of my trip (as opposed to the pure "commute" portion) on my road bike. It sort of bothers me having $1500+ worth of bike that just sits around (bike + Power Tap). The distance portion of the ride is the North Danville loop that is a staple for me (though it used to be for recovery days a couple years ago) and is 16 miles in length. Last week I did this loop on the new hybrid and it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to make the loop.

The road bike made a big difference, between its lighter weight, lower rolling resistance and better aerodynamic position for me. I was able to complete the loop in 1 hour and 5 minutes or about 15% better time. Another factor in the better time is likely that with the power meter I was better able to judge when to shift and move to a different gear to keep a constant effort. On the flats I felt pretty comfortable around 210 watts so I worked at shifting to a harder gear when I dropped below 200 watts and to an easier one when I was moving over 240 or so. On climbs I just tried to not blow up even though the power was often 400+ watts.

So, all in all I don't feel I'm in too bad shape. My power output isn't all that far off from my endurance pace a few years back, though my top end is definitely lower as is my stamina. Once my weight is down further, my speed will go up and I will be able to go further in the same amount of time. I have about 60 lbs to go (more or less) which at my current rate should take 20 to 30 weeks, so by the end of the year I should be where I want to be, though I should be down to a good level by the end of September (a good level being 210-215 or there abouts).