I can tell I’m getting faster
Because after coming home from the One Big Hill checkride – a loop where I managed to get lost a couple of times, did an exploration of using the Trolley Trail as an alternative to River Road, and managed to run completely out of steam at around mp 84 (it took another 10 miles and three lengthy stops at convenience stores to cram food into my gullet before I got enough energy back to finish the loop at an acceptable pace) – I felt like I was travelling really slowly to finish the loop in 10h28.
Now I have to decide whether to re-(etc-)ride Portland-Ripplebrook-Portland tomorrow. I suspect that if I do I won’t be matching the pace I maintained last time I rode it due to being fairly exhausted by today’s loop.
And, hey, I’ve now ridden more brevet miles this year than I did last year. I wonder what my milage will look like by the end of the summer, when everything will come to a crashing halt due to baby-herding related activities.