I spent some time looking over the data for my bike events so far this year and updating my website at swim2bike2run.net. This table shows the major events so far this year with the most recent at the top. The interesting aspect is that the event yesterday was done with the highest average heart rate. That might be because it had the least amount of climbing or maybe it was because it was on a tandem. Another possibility is that it was the least amount of miles so I could push myself more. In any event it was by far the fastest.

Click to enlarge the tables and graphs.

The heart rate curve from yesterday’s Ulcer Century shows I was in the “red” zone most of the ride resulting in an average heart rate of 155. I had my Polar heart rate monitor setup with a maximum heart rate of 182 and the red zone defined as above 85% of that value or 154. Maybe I should change the settings for the red zone to a higher value.

Compare this with the same type of curve for the Death Ride where my average HR was 142. My heart rate went high during the cimbs, but then declined significantly during the decents.

There is one more event that I could use for comparision and that is the Tour de Cure. The first 72 miles I rode by myself and the next 36 miles with Ann. That gives me some data of how we would do on single bikes. The first 72 miles did have some climbing, however. Here are how the two segments look.

What is real interesting is that Lap 1, where I rode by myself for 72 miles was at an average speed of 21.8, a bit faster than the Ucler Century with a bit more climbing (1,400 feet in 72 miles vs. the same amount in 109 miles). For that portion my average heart rate was 152, close to what I averaged on the Ulcer ride. The part I rode with Ann averaged 14.9 mph, still a good speed. I recorded in my blog entry at the time that she rode faster on the part she rode solo at something like 16 mph. In any event if you average these two speeds, you get between 18.3 and 18.9 mph. So we clearly rode collectively on the tandem (20.8 mph) faster than we could average on single bikes.

This analysis results in the following conclusions:

1. The tandem allows you to ride faster that the average speed of the two riders, at least on flats. It really does allow Ann and I to ride together and ride close to the speed I would ride on a single bike with the same effort on my part.

2. A heart rate of 155 is below my lactate threshold and that I can indeed hold that heart rate for many hours.

3. I might be best suited to climbing where I can climb at a good rate without pushing my heart rate through the roof. But I already knew that.

Categories: Cycling, Training Log