Today was a good day - 47.3 miles at 20.6 mph.
If I would have pushed it a little bit more then today I probably could have done 50 miles at greater than 20 mph.
I have a couple of goals:
- 25 miles at 25 mph
- 50 miles at 20 mph
- 100k in under 3 hours
- 100 miles at 20 mph (ie under 5 hours elapsed time)
There are a few recumbent riders in the area that are at or above these performance goals:
- Mark Leuck (http://lifeonabaron.blogspot.com/)
- Ron Swift (http://app.strava.com/athletes/643634)
The first goal of 25 miles at 25 mph is to attack my Functional Threshold Power (FTP). This I am doing by riding intervals 2 or 3 times a week.
The Engine
Weekly strategy:
- 3 days riding intervals
- 1 long ride of 50 miles @ 20 mph+
- 1 long ride of 70 miles @ 19 mph
- 2 rest days
I also need to lose 25 pounds body weight. I have drastically altered my diet to be more fruits, vegies and non-processed food. Started to get serious about the belly because with the P-38 (F-40) my belly keeps flopping on my legs as I peddle.
The Bike
I ordered a new rear wheel that is a deep-v carbon clincher rim like I have on the Musashi. This should give better aero performance. It should be here in about a month.
The 100 oz camelbak is not working out. With the longer rides the ice in the camelbak is melted within 2 hours. I’ll probably end up going back to the growler.
Ride Strategy
Every ride now it seems like I get at least 1 one-mile split time that is greater than 30 mph. Today I had one at 30.6 mph and I had 4 splits that were in the 29 to 29.9 mph range.
It takes forever to accelerate to 30, but once there it is easy to hold on level ground. I need to really work on the accleration. It is probably related to shifting quickly and precisely into the 60 tooth front chainring. I can get to 25-26 mph quickly by just staying in the middle front chainring.