I ride with a great group of people most Saturday mornings from Bainbridge Island to Port Ludlow and back. Like most people I find on the island, everyone has a friendly attitude; most have had a lot of experience riding. We usually start at a pretty good clip north on 305 to the Kitsap Peninsula. The pace eases and people chat more easily once we turn off the main highway. Most weeks we follow the same route.
I like this group because, in addition to being friendly people and good cyclists, we enjoy pushing the pace at times. Right now I’m one of the stronger riders in the group, only because I’ve been riding more frequently. When I was riding with them last year, I was not as strong but the rides were still fun. Most people in the group have ridden long enough they can share similar experiences of up years and down years.
Most weekdays when I’m riding alone, I ride at a much slower pace so that I’m primarily burning fat for energy. With this group, I’m frequently tapping more glycogen stores. Round trip for this ride is 43 miles. Strava says I burned 1638 kCal on the ride. That’s about equal to the total caloric capacity of the glycogen stored in my muscles and liver. A good indicator of fitness is that I could enjoy the entire ride without eating anything and arrive home not feeling trashed.
I’m hoping to do a longer ride tomorrow, hopefully a long climb up a mountain pass. A key check on my condition is whether I’ll be able to recover to start fresh tomorrow and enjoy back to back hard rides.
