First DC Ranch Ride

Ok, so enough is enough. I've been getting some riding experience on my bike with a 10 mille route around my house. However, with the new addition of a bike rack on my truck (another biking expense) I've been itching to take her (my bike) out on a more scenic route. Last Saturday was the day. My wife was headed out of town for a girls weekend in Vegas and she needed a lift to meet her friends at 7:30am. Therefore, I needed to head out early if I was gonna get this ride in. No biggie, again with summer heat, it's the best time to get a run or ride in. I decided to bring the bike out to my favorite running route, DC Ranch. I've conquered the hills on foot, and I wanted to give it a go on a bike. I got out there at 5:30am. I've learned that there is far more prep in getting ready for a ride. Check the tires, don't forget the helmet, the gloves, the shoes, water bottles, glasses, Garmin, and oh...don't forget to strap in the bike. Alright, down to business, like I said I've only been on flat terrain around the house. WOW, what a ride. Number one, can't beat the surroundings. Unlike on foot, the bike adds a headwind and provides a little coolness in an otherwise sticky morning. The first half mile is flat, provides a nice warm up. Then the real fun begins in the form of a 4 mile descent. This provides the adrenaline rush/fear that was a whole new experience for me. Looking down at my Garmin, I saw that I was hovering in the 25-30 mph range. Going off what I read and felt natural, I pushed my butt back on the saddle, put my hands on the drops and folded in half for aerodynamics. What a rush! However, looking ahead it occurred to me that ANYTHING could send me face first over the handle bars and provide a nasty case of road rash, or worse. However, I kept my eyes focused on the road ahead and decided to enjoy the ride. In this case, what goes down, must go up. I've never done hills on a bike, but have seen cyclists struggling up these hills on previous runs. Well, I now know why they look like they are struggling cuz as much as these hills suck on foot, they suck even more on bike. However, I choose to look at it the same ways I look at hills on foot. They are gonna make me a better runner/cyclist. I have a feeling that once I get to know the bike gears better, these climbs will get easier, but I can say that this hill kicked my ass! Let's cut to the chase, great ride! Challenging but great ride! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1724 ft Location: Carefree, AZ Elev. Gain: -3 ft Date: 08/16/08 Up/Downhill: [+492/-495] Time: 06:36 AM Difficulty: 3.3 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 8.98 miles Time: 0:32:02 Speed: 16.8 mph Pace: 3' 34 /mi Heart Rate: 145 bpm (Avg) Calories: 613 203 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)   Heart Rate (bpm)   Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 169 - 188 0h 00m 1%  0.25 mi Zone 4 150 - 169 0h 16m 51%  6.62 mi Zone 3 132 - 150 0h 11m 34%  3.27 mi Zone 2 113 - 132 0h 04m 14%  1.24 mi Zone 1 94 - 113 0h 04m 12%  -0.20 mi (none) out of range 0h 01m 2%  0.31 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 4' 27 +0' 52 13.4 -3.4 124 +49 ft 2 2' 58 -0' 36 20.1 +3.3 139 -78 ft 3 3' 01 -0' 33 19.8 +3.0 150 -108 ft 4 2' 52 -0' 42 20.8 +4.0 150 -55 ft 5 7' 37 +4' 02 7.9 -8.9 135 +3 ft 6 0' 00 -3' 34 5160.2 +5143.4 149 -63 ft 7 4' 09 +0' 34 14.4 -2.4 -- +62 ft 8 3' 43 +0' 08 16.1 -0.7 152 +53 ft 9 4' 17 +0' 42 14.0 -2.8 159 +128 ft 10 3' 53 +0' 18 15.4 -1.4 157 +59 ft end 3' 10 -0' 24 18.9 +2.1 147 -52 ft Versus average of 16.8 mph

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