Training
My overall training regimen is going well, although a little slower than I was hoping. I went on a 53 mile ride yesterday morning, and averaged 11.1mph. This means that I should be able to finish the century in about 9 hours, with 8 hours being the goal. I purchased on book on training and am currently attempting interval training as a way to improve my speed more quickly.
Equipment
I had some difficulty getting the new parts for the road bike I was planning to use, and decided recently to stick with the hybrid I have been training on instead. Wednesday I decided to forego my normal training ride so that I would have time to attach a cyclometer to the hybrid, then Thursday I brought the bicycle in for a tune-up.
Technique
Yesterday, during the training ride, I learned several things. This was the first ride with the cyclometer, and I learned that on relatively flat terrain I can maintain a pace close to 15mph. Hills, on the other hand, drop my speed down to 5-6mph and wind can have a similar effect. One of the suggestions in the book I was reading was that I treat hills as intervals and press through them quickly, and that is exactly what I attempted (operative word) to do. My cadence seems pretty good, right around 90 most of the time, and popping up to over 100 without too much upper body movement on occasion.
