There was really no reason for me to believe that I'd set a personal best in anything today.
I had planned on doing a 42K TT just to see what I could do, but I can't say that I've been doing any specific training that was aimed at improving my time in that distance. I've only been riding an hour or so on weekday mornings, lifting weights, and doing and occasional group ride on the weekends. None of that screams "long distance speed record."
A 42K time trial is a pretty long and difficult event. A 42 kilometer ride is really close to 26.2 miles (It's like 26.09). I've always done mine as a 26.2 mile ride just because my bike computers are all set to miles, not kilometers. I just call them a 42K because it's easier.
My best time previously was just over an hour and eight minutes. You have to go hard the whole time but not so hard that you wear yourself out. I do them on West River Drive, which is about 4 miles from end to end, so I have to turn around six times in order to do a 42K. I have to be really efficient in the turnarounds so I don't lose too much time, not slowing down too early, making the turn smoothly, and then getting back up to speed quickly.
I've always liked using the 42K time as a test because it's so hard to do. You have to be mentally focused and can't let your attention wander. It's not something that you can do if you've been training hard for several days in a row and it's not something that you can do just a little of and go home (like I've been known to do on the leg press at the gym).
For today's ride, I set a target for myself of 220 watts. For an effort this long, I figured I could hold a few watts under my threshold.... but I don't know what that is right now. My last threshold test was four weeks ago, when it was 215 watts. I figured that I had improved a little since then, and maybe I was at 225 now, so 220 would be a decent goal, both hard to accomplish and within reach if I tried hard enough.
Boy, was I wrong.
I didn't even know what speed that would be equal to. It was a little cold, a little windy, and there were leaves all over the road, so I figured my speed would be a little low.
I was wrong again.
My previous record, 1:08:16, was an average of 23.1 mph. Today, I did 1:06:57, for an average of 23.5 mph. My power was the real shocker. I averaged 232 watts. I had no idea that I'd be that strong. That means my threshold is probably up around 240.
By the end of the first lap, I knew I was having a strong ride. My average power was 226 watts and my average speed was 23.6 mph. The winds picked up on the second and third laps, but my power increased (which is normal, it's usually a good plan to slowly increase power during a long time trial). With the winds as strong as they were, my speed ranged from 21 mph all the way up to 26 mph.
When my computer ticked over at 26.2 miles and I saw my finish time, I almost cheered. I couldn't believe that I'd beaten my all time record by over a minute. I beat it by 1:19 to be exact.
While I'm sad to see the end of the riding season approaching, I am overjoyed to see such an important record fall.
It's almost a footnote after all that, but my weight this morning was 178.2 pounds. I'm creeping up on that 20 pounds lost marker of 177 pounds. Probably another week or so...
