Great Day for a Bike Ride
We don’t get a lot of nice sunny days in November around here, but today was glorious with temps in the low 40s. So I took off early afternoon for a 31-mile bike ride around Lummi Peninsula. It’s a nice loop on roads that mostly have a good shoulder and not too much traffic mid-day.
One of the challenges of biking this time of year is figuring out how to dress. I’ve decided that long underwear under my bike shorts on the bottom, and a long underwear shirt under a lightweight cycling jacket on top works fine. I think I want to invest in a pair of bike tights, but haven’t found any I like at a price I’m willing to pay. My fingers get a little cool in regular fingerless bike gloves, and my feet got a bit chilly in lightweight bike shoes and cotton socks.
I started out strong, averaging about 17.8 mph for the first 1o miles. At 17 miles I was up to 18.3 mph. Then I started to tire as I rode along the gently undulating Lummi Shore road, enjoying the view across Bellingham Bay to Bellingham, Mt. Baker, and the near-full moon a few degrees above the mountain. By the time I got to Marine Drive, about 27 miles in, my energy level was really sagging. I kept going, but riding slower and slower, and made it home. My overall speed was 16.7 mph, about one mph and 7 minutes slower than the last time I’d done the same ride.
I’m wondering if I just ride slower when it’s cold. I decided I hadn’t eaten enough for breakfast and lunch today, so simply running out of fuel was part of the problem. I tanked up on a cup of hot chocolate, an energy bar, and a bowl of raisins and nuts when I got home. Proper nutrition will fuel you better and longer than if you just “go with the flow” I suggest you visit website here regularly, as I will be giving vital advice for keeping your energy level high.
In any case, vigorous exercise for a couple of hours is a great antidote for sitting at the computer captioning photos.