COVID in October, 2020 was such a life changing event for me, I find myself comparing the before and after, especially when it comes to my performance on the bike, because it is there where the difference is so stark, even after most of the rest of the things I do started being mostly like the before. But there were definitely improvements in bike performance in September and October. First, in mid September, I decided to change my weekly three 30 mile rides to 35 mile rides. So, since that time, I’ve been getting in 105 miles a week on the bike, rather than the 90 miles I had been getting. I hadn’t gotten in that kind of mileage since before COVID. I seemed to be completely over the flu bout that hit me so hard in the summer, plus my surgically repaired knee finally seemed strong enough for more miles, so it seemed time to start doing it.
Before COVID, my average speed on the bike was around 15 mph. I would be faster on high effort days, and slower on days when it was windy, cold, etc, but my average was around 15 mph. But since COVID, I hadn’t averaged over 15 mph on an outdoor bike ride at all, not even once. That is, until October 20th. It was a nice day with fairly light winds, and on that day, I averaged 15.4 mph on the bike. I’ve had so many rides faster than that in previous years, but on this day, I had to do a little fist pump in my driveway when I got home. I know I’m never going to get completely back to the strength and fitness level I was at before, but at 72 years old now, I probably wouldn’t have been at that level still anyway. It’s all relative, and right now I’m feeling pretty good about where I am. I also made a slight increase in the amount of weight I’m lifting in my dumbbell work now too.
I ended up with 16 rides for 403 miles in September, and 17 rides for 490 miles in October. That October mileage is the best I’ve had in a month since that first COVID bout. It just turned much cooler, so all of this week’s rides have been indoors. Winters always seem to be more challenging for my lung health. We’ll see how I do this year.
October 20th’s route.
