Thursday, May 10, 2007

New Top Speed!


Ok, so I needed to run some personal errands this morning, and went into work late. Since I was over near Clackamas Mall anyway, I rode up Bob Schumacher Drive to the intersection with Idleman, SE 97th Avenue and Otty Rd. (That sounds complicated, but it's not - it's a regular intersection, but each of the two roads has a different name on each leg)

Otty Road is almost ridiculously steep. Not quite as steep as Thiessen, but close. Now, Otty road has a bike lane part of the way, and has a 40mph speed limit. Oregon law permits you to leave the bike lane to avoid hazardous conditions. Riding at high speed to me qualifies as hazardous, so I rode in the middle of the car lane, and for good reason - I could keep up with traffic. I hit 42.8 mph on my way down Otty Road, and unfortunately had to stop for the red light next to Mall-Wart (sorry, Wal-Mart - same thing). So, I'm kind of celebrating, because I also broke 1,200 miles for the year. Anyway, here's the stats:

Today:
Mileage: 12.21 miles
Top Speed: 42.8 mph
Average Speed: 11.0 mph
Time on Bike: 01:06:47

2007 To-Date:
Mileage: 1,204.32 miles
Top Speed for Year: 42.8 mph (Otty Rd. downhill, Thursday, May 10th)
Total Days: 130
Mileage per Day: 9.26
Overall Average Speed: 10.7 mph
Total Time on Bike: 114:17:31

Goal Mileage by Today: 1,920 miles (715 miles behind schedule)
Mileage This Date, 2006: 1,151.11 miles (53.2 miles more in 2007 than in 2006)

What I need to do now is to start cranking up the mileage to make up for the gap. My schedule assumes riding to work 4 days per week, so every week I ride all 5 days I gain another 25 miles. At that rate, it will take me 28 weeks to make up the difference, which is basically all year. So, I need to work in some long training rides on the weekend to make up the difference.

'Later!

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