Ride of my life (so far)

It was a few days ago but I haven't had a lot of time to sit and write about it. Because of weather I rearranged my training and ended up doing a long ride on a Monday afternoon. The weather was perfect. I had about a 90km loop planned. I made amazing time to the halfway point and sent hubby a message that I would be cycling in to a headwind so I would be longer than I thought.

The wind seemed brutal, but it wasn't affecting me too badly. I saw a flag on a pole. It was hanging limply. Hmmm...maybe it's windier on the highway? The went was ripping past me, I was sure of it. Kept looking at my Garmin and saw I was holding a good pace. Saw another flag hanging limply and then clued in. I was the headwind!!

Once I realized this I kept up. There were times that I was working hard but for the most part it was a moderate effort. I wanted to keep the average pace as high as I could. I was at 40km at 1:19, 60km at 2:06 and 88.5km at 3:08. Seriously, I have NEVER had a ride like this. Ever.

I am noticing the difference with a compact crank. I am able to work farther down the back cassette comfortably. And I am able to stay in the big ring while climbing.