With an Olympic Triathlon planned for this Sunday, I set out on a “road test” in aero this morning to practice position and ride strategies. As you’ll see below, even Strava recognized this ride was a bit quicker than my usual effort.

The test went well. I averaged 19.6 mph for thirty-plus miles and hit 26 miles, the target length for the bike leg in this weekend’s triathlon, at 1:19:20.

That means come race day I will target 20 mph on a relatively hilly course (I imagine) up in Wauconda.

It is interesting to do these tests in mid-summer when fitness is strong. During the spring training period I struggle to average 17 mph on those windy days. Today was windy too, but I slid down into aero and concentrated on full, clean revolutions on the pedals and was able to ride much of the way at 20+ miles per hour.

Garmin feedback is slightly different than Strava, which estimates my Power Output at a measly 175W. I don’t have a meter for that, it just uses a mathematical equation to come to that bit of data.

But Garmin does measure my heart rate, which reached 152 bpm at its peak today. That means I’m likely riding at 80%. So there’s more in the tank come race day.

There were some relatively long yet mld climbs thrown in, and a full-on 10 mph crosswind from the northeast on the way back. I’d sworn there would be a tailwind after cutting across a wind all the way out. But we deceive ourselves with false hopes on the bike. The wind itself seldom complies with our hopes of speed.

Anyway, it feels good to be riding well. The heat is supposed to be fierce this weekend. The water temps are also likely high so I doubt the race will be wetsuit legal. that means I’ll probably not count in the standings because I’m not swimming my first mile-length open water swim without the wetsuit.

I’m crazy, but not nuts.