I received my first installment of “Tour Talk” from CrossRoads Cycling Adventures today. CrossRoads is the “sponsor” of my upcoming Coast to Coast bike trip and for the next 14 months they will be sending information regarding the trip.
Right at the beginning of the publication they state that “the ideal target goal should be to maintain 15 mph on a thirty-mile ride over rolling terrain.” Well, I know I’m not that fast so I figured I had better set some benchmarks to determine just how much progress I should make before the tour starts in May. I picked a fairly standard route for this cyclists in this area: starting at my home on the southwest side of Topeka, KS and traveling to and from Dover, KS. For the out-going trip, I’m using the K4 route and for the return, a couple of county secondary roads. See today’s statistics and maps below:
Ride Stats from my house to Dover via K4.
| Distance | 12 mi | Total Time | 45 min |
| Total Ascent | 482 ft | Max Elev. | 1,094 ft |
| Avg HR | 125 bpm | Max HR | 153 bpm |
| Wind Dir | N | Wind Speed | 5 mph |
| Low Temp | 35 F | High Temp | 35 F |
Ride Stats return to my house from Dover via county roads
| Distance | 12 mi | Total Time | 48 min |
| Total Ascent | 738 ft | Max Elev. | 1,202 ft |
| Avg HR | 129 bpm | Max HR | 147 bpm |
| Wind Dir | N | Wind Speed | 5 mph |
| Low Temp | 35 F | High Temp | 35 F |
So the short story is I’m not doing too bad. However, these routes are relatively flat so that tells me I’ve still got work to do.
But, now I’ve got a couple of benchmarks to which I can judge my progress.
