jackied510's Logboek, 04 aug 13

25 miles! Awesome. What an impressive milestone. So, what is your next goal ride? 

Nice work, especially if you have any hills in your area. Your commitment to improve your health is commendable. 

There's nothing but hills in my area, WonderDad (I live in the Catskill Mountain area of NY). I was stopping my rides at about 12 miles because of one very difficult hill that inevitably makes me want to cry - but I'm getting stronger so I've been riding the hill for the last couple of rides(coming down, I easily hit 30 mph). All I can say is...ouch...my lower back is feeling yesterday's ride. 

Kathy - next goal is 30 miles, I guess. LOL - maybe next weekend. 

25 miles in a hilly area completed in 2 hrs. means you're in pretty good shape for riding. I live in a similar area in Morris County, NJ.and I can only average about 8-9 mi./hr. I like to set ambitious destinations for myself, but Schooley's Mtn. always seems to be on the route. It's a killer to climb. I have to make many stops. However, like you, I have noticed that I am getting stronger. I'm making fewer stops and can now pedal completely over smaller hills. Keep doing what you are doing, it seems to be working. As for not losing weight faster, maybe it's be due to weight gained by building muscle. 

WonderDad, I averaged about 12 mph on that ride which is slow compared to last year where I was averaging close to 14 mph (and still slow, compared to the people I regularly ride with). But...I have a road bike and that makes all the difference. What kind of bike do you have? When I had a hybrid, I couldn't push it faster than 11 mph. It was way too heavy. I also think I'm impatient with my weight loss - I want it to come off 2-3 lbs/week and it's averaging 1.5 lbs which is actually very healthy (but feels slow!)