Tailwind

I was fast this morning. I mean, noticeably faster than any time this year fast. For me. My morning commute was a full ½ km/h quicker than my next best effort of the last few years; and at least one km/h quicker than my next five quickest rides. How quick was I? Prepare to be underwhelmed. I averaged 35.1 km/h from my home to the office. Are you impressed? I’m guessing that the answer is a resounding, “No!” I’m guessing this because either you don’t understand the metric system and think that I’m just making up numbers here that have no meaning, or if you do know the metric system you have heard the speeds that professionals ride and realize that this is pretty weak. I thank you for your honesty if you fall into one of these camps. If there’s anyone left out there who thinks that this may be impressive still (and at 21.8 MPH it is for me), then thank you for your kindness.

Every year I look for the first commute to average over 32 km/h, which is about 20 MPH. It came early this year. It even came on a route that has never held a high-speed record before. I know the route I take when I’m pushing for a high speed. I drop down the steep hill on Winchester, and then follow 700 West. This gives me a quick jolt of speed, spiking around 64 km/h, as a starting point, and not too much residual climbing to lower that average. But there are some other things that play into a good speed: wind and lights.

Wind, or more specifically a strong tailwind, is the biggest contributor to a high speed for me. If I can get somewhere over 20 km/h and then feel the wind vanish, I know it’s a good wind day. And today was. I was feeling still air near 30 km/h. That means that I didn’t have to overcome wind resistance until I was moving pretty quickly. That also means that I have a quicker base to get from intersection to intersection.

That quicker base speed translates into catching more lights green, which translates to keeping my speed high. So, putting these two things together, I had a magical ride this morning. I rolled through most intersections on green without having to slow down.

Halfway through the day I’m still excited about that great start. It’s amazing how a fairly lithe thing can keep you going for a while. I don’t expect to match this effort for several months or even longer, but I can bask in the glory of it now, until I ride home into the headwind and have the slowest ride of the past few years. But that will be another post for another day.

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Oh yeah, "Tailwind" is indeed the name of a song. Not one that I own, but a title used by several artists for several songs.