Lookout Mountain

I wanted to take a long ride on Sunday, but considering the forecast I knew I would have to wake up early.  Unfortunately I did not leave the house until 7:30 AM and the mercury was already starting to rise by 8:30 AM.

I did a 37 mile out and back up Lookout Mountain.  I was amazed at how busy the route was.  I started up the climb around 9:00 AM and was passed by around 20-30 people.  On the way down, I saw at least that many riders on the 4.5 mile stretch.

My pillar to post time was 51:52.  I averaged 127 watts and performed 396 kJ of work according to my PowerTap.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I wanted to establish a baseline.  There were some people really moving on the climb and I am certain they were riding up in less than 30 minutes.  I am not sure what my aspirations are, but I think it is a great test piece.

The ride home was exhausting.  I think it was a combination of the heat and overall fatigue.  My average power on the way home was 76 watts, versus 91 watts on the way there.

Fortunately on arriving home, the kids wanted to go swimming.  This ended up being a great cool down as well as an opportunity for some quality family time.  After swimming we had lunch and then I had a chance to check out All Sports Recovery.  I will describe that adventure in another post.