While I will run in just about any weather condition, and usually enjoy myself, on the bike I’m a bit of a wimp. I don’t like riding in cold weather. I don’t have the right gear, and having my extremities cold is really annoying, and so I just bide my time until the weather warms before I get my ride of the year in. I wasn’t planning to ride my bike today, but the day was much warmer than I expected, in the upper 50’s, and I had time in the afternoon, so I took advantage.
It worked out nicely because the reality is that I need to start getting on my bike. I have the March Madness Biathlon coming up in 3 weeks, which includes 2 loops of hilly Central Park. I’d like to get a bunch of bike training in before then to have a strong showing on the bike. Then it will be time to focus on my planned tri’s, Red Bank Triathlon on May 15 and then down the road, Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains. Since it was my first ride, and I didn’t have a whole lot of time, I just went to East River Park, which is flat, to do some intervals. What I wasn’t counting on was the (seemingly) gale force winds blowing out of the south. At least it seemed that way. Consider this – my hard intervals heading into the wind were only at about 12 MPH, while my hard intervals coming back with the wind were in the 22-23 MPH range. Those are speeds I’d expect to see when working on the tough hills in Central Park, not on the flats in East River Park.
It was about 10.4 miles in total. I really enjoyed myself and hopefully it is warm enough that I can get out 2 times per week. In the early weeks I expect to keep all my rides to 1 hour and slowly work in hills leading up to the Biathlon.
I enjoy comparing to prior years to see comparisons. Here are my first rides of the prior years, since I bought my bike in June 2007
- March 20 2008 – 4.1 miles up and down 1st and 2nd Ave
- March 7 2009 – 13 miles – to Central Park and a full loop
- March 8 2010 – 10.3 miles – loop to Queens and Brooklyn over Queensboro and Williamsburg Bridges
