dreadedmonkeygod . net

44 miles of of suffering in Valencia yesterday, more than 20 miles of that was uphill, and I'm starting to love the agony. This was shorter than last week's ride, but the pain is in the numbers:

I've found that running and cycling are all about intensity: go fast, and you burn out in a relatively short distance. Keep it mellow, and you can roll along all day.

So, take another look at those numbers: This week I had higher max. and avg. heart rates, which tells me I was working harder over the course of the ride, and spiking near my max heart rate. I'd love to see some Wattage measurements, but that'll have to wait until either I'm rich, or PowerTaps get a lot cheaper.

So my heart rate says I was working about 9% harder than last week, and that jibes with the calorie calculations. Last week's 565 kCal/hr burn jumped about 8% to 615 kCal/hr. (Then again, the link between heart rate and calories isn't a surprise: I'm getting both numbers from my heart rate monitor.)

My average speed also rose a bit, from 10.03mph to 10.32. Not a lot, but I did it without the long, flat return leg of last week's ride.

Bottom line: I'm climbing faster, making the most of the flats and downhills, and I'm having fun doing it. This is everything I got into biking for.

(Map: "Spunky Canyon 3/25/07")