Five Weeks

Has it really been five weeks since my last road bike ride? To be sure, my last ride outside was on Saturday September 26th! Yep, that's exactly five weeks.
Of course, everyone kept reminding me ... "take it easy, don't over do it!" Balderdash! I love riding my bike so much that taking it easy is not an option!
After a great morning of watching my grandson play soccer, carving pumpkins at my son and daughter-in-law's house, and going grocery shopping; it was finally time to embark on that first ride! Yes, I was a little cautious for the first mile or so and then I dialed up the intensity just a little.
It felt great to be back on the bike and as I traversed Iron Point Road my rhythm seemed to be pretty good. A minute or so slower to the first marker wasn't bad so I kept it rolling. By the time I reached the hatchery, it seemed like I hadn't missed a beat.
At approximately the ten mile mark, I dismounted and marked the pavement with yellow chalk. After that, I travelled on the American River Parkway trail for 3.1 miles where I again marked the pavement with my chalk. After spinning another mile or so I stopped, turned around, climbed back on the saddle and headed east towards home.
The purpose for these markings was to set a base for a 5K (3.1 miles) time trial. Last week while surfing the net I discovered the Senior Games web site. In looking at the cycling results, the sixty to sixty-four age group had a winning time of 6:36 for the 5K time trial. Today, I was going to measure myself against that standard ... to see if I was competitive.
Approaching my chalk line on the pavement, I ramped up my effort and tried to maintain at least 20 MPH until the next chalk line came into view. While I peaked above that speed on several occasions, it was difficult to maintain the 20 MPH average speed I'd hoped for. I intentionally included an uphill ramp of about 50 yards and the section of the American River Parkway that always seems to slow me down. Today, the uphill ramp was no problem and while I slowed on the winding section, it was not as slow as usual.
When I hit that second yellow line, I stopped and immediately checked my time and average speed. Guess I've got some work to do! My time was 10:02 or 3:26 slower than the Senior Games winner. My average speed was 18.54 MPH. A little disappointing yes. But, since it was my first time out in over a month after my surgery, I'm encouraged that I can better that time with some concerted effort.
Upon arrival home, I thought to myself "you should have stayed out longer!" In reality, this was the perfect ride for my first day back on the bike. I really love cycling! Yep, I really do!