Century Training - Week 3; Day 6

Week: 3

Day: 6

Ride: Pace
Route: Combination of hills and flats

Scheduled Mileage: 38

Actual Mileage: 39.40

Average Speed: 14.2 mph*

Max Speed: 25.9 mph

*Includes city street speed average

Average BPM: 142
Max BPM: 172

Calories: 1196

Random Notes to Self:

• There's a reason why the speed demons I usually see on weekday evenings aren't in Central Park at noon on warm, gorgeous Saturdays.
• Dare I say it? Are my long rides (and the hills) starting to get easier?

There were so many things that I wished I could stop and photograph on today's long ride. The rows of cherry blossoms in full bloom; the families waiting at carts for hotdogs and snow cones; the lanes of colorful joggers; the checkerboards of picnic blankets on various lawns and fields; the firemen lounging on a hillside next to their parked red engine, enjoying lunch in their overalls (the universal public servant attire for "sexy"); the T-bone-like lats of the shirtless cyclist in black lycra shorts that I purposely trailed for several laps ...

... So many things of beauty on my three and a half laps around Central Park, but my legs felt surprisingly fresh, and I wanted to keep my pace. Halfway through lap number 4, I exited at Fredrick Douglass Circle - as I had done last Saturday - and braved the hill to Amsterdam Avenue, cruised down Riverside Drive, linked up with the Hudson River bicycle lanes and took a break with a Clif Bar and Gatorade at exactly 30 miles at the Pick A Bagel in Tribeca. Returning up a sparkling Hudson River to West 88th Street, I looped back down Riverside Drive and arrived at my Midtown apartment just under 40 miles.

Along the way, I also made note of a place I'd like my boyfriend to take me when he returns from this year's bj League season in Japan (hint-hint-HINT).