I are fast...sort of

Well, I took advantage of the sunshine this afternoon. I got the chance to get out and do a great training ride on the new Cannondale. Man, what an experience. Each time I get on this bike I am surprised by it.

First, I found some new socks that I fell in love with! Mizuno Breath Thermo socks!!! I have loved the Mizuno Breath Thermo base layer shirts and the breath thermo sweaters for a long time. They are fantastically light, yet amazingly warm during the winter. So, today, while shopping for some new running shoes for Karin at Striders in Grandville...I found that Mizuno makes Breath Thermo socks. Light weight, thin, form fitting, and unbelievably warm. I am so pumped...Mizuno makes the best stuff around. I love SmartWool too. But, I have a tough time beating the Mizuno stuff in the cold.

Anyway...the temps were warm enough today that I made my first ride in semi-normal gear. I wore my new Pearl Izumi Attack bibs with no tights over the top. Gasp! I know...exposed my legs to real fresh air. It was amazing. The bibs were comfy. I liked the fit around my legs much better than my Cannondale bibs...but, that might be that the Pearl are the correct size, while the CDale bibs are a size too large for me now. The chamois seemed a bit thinner on Pearl bibs...so, my butt was feeling it a bit more. But, it wasn't too significant.

I also skipped any kind of a jacket, sweater, windbreaker, etc. adidas ClimaCompression base layer with my new TwinSix (www.twinsix.com) jersey over the top. That's all! Wow...it felt great to ride with so little on top.

Anyway. With warm feet, cold legs, and no jacket I set forth for a ride. Sunshine on my face...I was lovin life.

It was a bit breezier than I was expecting. The trees didn't seem to be showing much of a breeze when I left. But, once I was out of the cover of the houses in my neighborhood I could feel that there was a definite breeze. Not windy...just breezy. Pretty much straight out of the West...so, I rode straight in to the breeze for the first half of the ride and then had the wind at my back for the trip home. It was enough of a breeze to create a 4-5mph differential between the trip out and the trip back.

Anyway...I felt like I was just hauling butt on the way home. My average for the whole trip (18ish miles) was 17.4mph, which felt quick. Especially when I consider that I needed to make some stops at a few intersections during the ride. The ride back, though, with the wind at my back seemed really quick. I was averaging about 20mph...which feels like light-speed to me compared with the trudging along on the Volpe in the snow.

I actually average 29mph for a mile on the trip home. Now, I'll grant you that about half of it was down a very steep hill (Filmore between 32nd and 24th), and it was definitely down wind. Still...that was a full mile at just shy of 30mph. That's darned fast for me!

Still needed full finger gloves and a SmartWool training beanie for the ride. And, I was definitely a bit cool for the first 20 minutes of the ride. Still...it was at least a hint at what is to come for the summer. I'm pumped! I want it to get warm so I can start doing group rides and JDRF training rides.