Hitting the Ton

Another milestone reached this weekend.  Our first 100km bike ride for the year.  After several rides that came tantalisingly close (85km, 93km, 90km), we finally broke the barrier ticking over 101km in a perfect morning for riding.  No wind, traffic mostly considerate (there's always the odd exception!), and a good sized group of 6-8 people.


Our route took us on a tour starting at Princess Margaret Hospital, Cashmere Rd, Old Tai Tapu Rd, across to Lincoln and then along the back roads coming out at Old West Coast Rd. Crossed over to MacLeans Island Rd, around the back of the airport, Johns Rd, Chaney's Corner, Brooklands and back to Redwood where we stopped at Coffee Culture for a well-deserved coffee break!


Coach Dave has determined that my cadence is not as high as he would like.  While one of my strengths is my power on the bike, on a 6 hour ironman leg transferring all that power into pedal strokes is going to kill my legs and leave nothing left for the run.  So I need to be able to "spin" more.  That is, pedal with a higher cadence and lighter legs (less power).  Yep, a real challenge for me.  My average cadence for this weekend's ride was 76rpm - I need to get it to about 85rpm and so this week's training will see me doing rides with cadences up to 100rpm - yikes!