as the kidz say... "PWNED"

I was chugging along from work today trying to chase an older, slimmer, shorter, Asian dude on a MTB-turned-commuter bike today.

I never caught up to him and used up my go juice trying to do that. I had to settle for gearing down and just matching his cadence... he was cookin' along like an eggbeater.

I think the worst part is I pulled out of our workplace and immediately tried cranking along and that worked OK for a while but my legs soon got really tight and fatigued... always seems like a better ride for me if I run a short, easy warm-up before I hammer it.

As it turned out, I still made it home in about 30 seconds less than my recent best time.

first ride of the week

It's a lot colder today in the morning (might rain tomorrow) and I read where I should have my knees better covered for warmth (better blood flow to the joints).

I tried out a few different gear combos - shifted to easier gears than I'd been using and increased the RPMs per a book I'd read last week on cycling and specifically related to hill climbing. The book said it would be better on your knees to do this rather than do fewer RPMs (possibly faster travel speed) with a tougher gear. I'm still not sure which would work better, but I'm more accustomed to the latter.

Also, I might continue doing this for a couple more weeks into mid-November and then take a break or throttle back on the frequency due to pending daylight savings time (it'll really be dark in the morning and afternoon).

Today, I got home in 21 minutes flat.