Century Training - Week 4; Day 6

Week: 4
Day: 6
Ride: Pace
Route: Combination of hills and flats
Scheduled Mileage: 42
Actual Mileage: 43.81
Average Speed: 13.2 mph*
Max Speed: 24.0 mph
*Includes city street speed average

Average BPM: 133
Max BPM: 162
Calories: 1278

Random Notes to Self:

• Still experiencing some muscle fatigue, but feeling better.
• Need to continue researching dietary suggestions for athletic performance.
• Don't forget to stretch after rides.

I love the cherry blossoms in Central Park. But I love even more when the cherry blossoms begin to fall off the trees. Even though the fleeting beauty of the cherry blossom season is a subtle reminder of how few things in this life truly last, it can be a surreal experience to see hundreds of petals lifted by a spring breeze and swirled like drifting snow. Suddenly you're surrounded by a light, pink rain. On the most spectacular occasion that I was witness to the soft pink flurries, I was sitting in Columbus Circle.
 
My 42-mile long ride could easily have raised breast cancer awareness for Pink Ribbon. I was in my pink and black Pearl Izumi Women's Insula Tour Jacket, cycling circles around a sprinkled-pink Central Park. Half way through my fourth lap, I exited the north end of the park for a change of scenery along the Hudson River, where Maddy and I took a break with a Cliff Bar energy bar and low-calorie Gatorade. Even Jersey (the armpit of the northeast ... hey, I wasn't the first to say it) looks beautiful on days like today ... from a distance.

I concluded my 42 miles with one last pink lap around Central Park. It would have been a gorgeous day for a century ... but I'll get there.