rip roarin' ride

Right. My blog title is actually the name of a charity ride that Amy and I did today (T3ers Maggie - who did 103 miles..go, Maggie, go! - and Joe and Claudette were out there, too!), not necessarily the pace at which we were riding. Although I think that we should get some credit for being so darn consistent. Seriously. Amy and I average between 15 and 16.5 mph every ride. Hills. Flat. Smooth. Bumpy. Hot. Cold. Wind. No wind. Actually, to give Amy credit, there were a few times when she left me in the dust and was closer to 17 or slightly above but really, I'm amazed how we always fall within the same range.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Especially since considering about a year ago averaging 15 consistently was huge accomplishment for me. 14.5 was more my specialty. But it does sort of crack me up that I have yet to figure out the secret to getting past this 15-16.5 speed trap that I seem to be stuck in. I actually thought that it might be impossible for me to average anything faster on the road, for more than a nano-second or two. But I dispelled that self-created myth today. For the last 14 miles of my ride I averaged about 16.8! Granted this part of the course we rode didn't have a ton of hills but it had its share of central Texas rollers and I actually felt slightly strong on them. I know 16.8 is not that much more than 16.5 but it feels a heck of a lot closer to 17! Now, can I hold that for more than 14 miles...yeah, I'm not so sure about that. But even having done it for a little bit of a 79 mile ride gives me encouragement that it might happen again some day...for at least as long, if not longer.
Today would have been a great ride even without this baby step in the speed department. The weather was awesome (although I did not have on enough sunscreen...grrr...) and my riding buddy Amy was awesome - as usual. And it was nice to be on a different route, with incredible support - from SAG vehicles to rest stops it was the way to go for a longer ride.
And just maybe I'll head back out there next year to see if I can make it a truly "roarin' " ride for a little bit more of the course...a girl can dream! Speaking of...need to go catch some zzzz's before tomorrow's 15-mile run. Scenic, Balcones, here I come...