Cadence

I rode to Grafham Water on my Chinook today, on a mission to visit the cycle shop and discuss the repair of my Lezyne CNC track pump.  The route I plotted is here.

I ended up cycling over 75 miles and the outbound ride to the shop, with the wind behind me, was completed with an average speed of 20mph.

I regret not stopping in some of the villages along my route to take photographs, however I did pause on a quiet road beside a very high fence.  A quick surf on the internet revealled it is Littlehey prison.













The interesting stats from my Garmin show my average cadence is 80rpm.  I stayed on the big Q-ring for the entire journey and consciously kept the crank revolutions fast.  I have noticed that when I start off and am warming up my muscles I tend to push a bigger gear and occasionally the Q-rings give me a niggling pain above the knee. I don't get the same niggle on a regular chainring. Anyway, I am making an effort to use the gears more and change frequently to keep the cadence higher, which must be working as I previously used to average 74rpm.

Today's weather was great; dry, 16 degrees, blue skies and a steady 14mph wind from the West.  I wore a Rapha ensemble - shorts, jersey, arm warmers, knee warmers and socks, and my scalp became a target for other cyclists.  Two caught me on the road from Great Barford to Willington but as soon as they passed me they slowed to a pace which was less than I was travelling and I re-took my scalp easily before they diverted to Danish Camp.  Another cyclist (Taylor Phinney?) riding a team BMC and wearing the USA national champion kit passed me on my final mile but I sat on his wheel until the turning for home.

Statistics for the week:

• Miles completed 125
• Weight loss 6lbs
• Strava Lower Thames St dash league position 53