Into the wind

I went for a nice ride today up Grey 19 and as far as Grey 2 and because I didn't have that much time I turned around and took the same route back. The total time was 1hour 24 minutes for a distance of 36.4 kms with an average speed of 26 kph. It doesn't seem like much but when the wind is in your face every direction you turn it makes for a tough ride. I don't know how that can be possible but some rides it just seems like no matter what direction you are going the wind is in your face. It couldn't have been that bad on the way back though because I did hit 71 kph racing back down Grey 19. That's nowhere near the fastest I have gone downhill but last week I could barely get to 55 kph coming down 19 because the wind blowing up the hill was killer. I averaged 149 beats per minute and I did set a new heart rate record (yea) of 172 beats per minute, eclipsing my old high of 171 set last year climbing Grey 19. I should say that is my recent old guy high, I do remember climbing Scenic Caves Rd about 17 years ago and having a heart rate of 186. That was the high I had preset into the HRM so it's possible my heart was even beating faster that day. It was the first time I had ever done the Caves climb and I made it but that was probably the hardest I have ever worked on a bike. I have also read that your heart rate drops 1 bpm for every year you age so there is a good chance it was over 186. I also wore the hrm to bed the other night to satisfy my own curiosity and I was a bit surprised by the results. I woke up part way through the night and took the transmitter off but it had been going for 2 hours and 23 minutes so it might be accurate. I question the results because the peak was 89, the average was 60 but the number I question is the minimum heart rate which was 33 bpm. That's quite low so I went to google and checked some sites and apparently the heart can drop as low as 20 bpm while sleeping so maybe it's an accurate rate. Seems low but who knows. I have yet to wear it doing household chores but I have to cut the lawn soon so I'll see how many calories get burned doing that. I was also thinking that I could wear the hrm during sex but my "pardon me but would you be interested in participating in a scientific experiment" line has not proved fruitful yet. Maybe I should wear a lab jacket or something the next time I try it.


Grey 19 downhill