Thursday, April 1, 2010

March Madness

March has come and gone and I'm a happy man. The white blanket that suffocated the Northeast for much of winter has disappeared. Daylight savings keeps the sun high in the sky. Just like the wildflowers stretching across the landscape, I've been taking full advantage of spring time sun and mild temperatures. Since I began tracking my mileage with my Garmin Edge, this has been my most best month of cycling. For the first time in quite a while, I managed to log over 300 miles on my bike. The majority of those I rode in the last two weeks thanks to longer days, so I'm even excited to see if I can improve upon it in April.

What's made March even sweeter is the completion of one of my SMART goals for 2010. I've twice ridden my home route of 16 miles in under 54 minutes. The last time, I managed to maintain an average speed of 18.1 mph which shattered my goal of 17.8 mph. Obviously speed isn't the best metric to measuring cycling performance. And I've deduced that very mild winds were the biggest reason I was able to record such a strong time. Nevertheless, I'm pleased that my hard work is showing measurable improvements.

Since I began recording my metrics with the Garmin, I've seen my average speed increase by over 2 mph. My cadence has increased by over 10 rpm, and I've increased the amount of climbing I do by over 2,000 feet. Not too shabby, given my relatively flat surroundings. All in all, this has been my best month of cycling, but I'm very excited to see what the rest of 2010 has in store for me.

2 comments:

  1. Which Garmin Edge are you using....the 500? I just got one this week and am really enjoying it.

    Congratulations on a great March....I hope April is even better for you.


    Darryl

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  2. Darryl,

    Thanks, I'm really looking forward to April. I've got the Edge 305. As luck would have it a week after picking it up, the 500 came out... typical. I do love the 305 though. Just wish I had waited since my next cycling investment will likely be a power meter which would be perfect with the 500.

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