The weather finally appears to have tilted toward spring, with temperature into the sixties and lower seventies.

I managed to get in a few miles this week: 22 on Sunday, 36 on Monday, and another 20 yesterday. I may even sneak in a short ride this afternoon. I’m planning to take Friday off, then for the Spring Classic on Saturday, the weather is supposed to be in the upper seventies, albeit rather windy.

Saturday will be my longest ride of the year so far, at about 46 miles. I did this ride last year, in absolutely perfect weather (upper seventies, almost no wind), but the ride was a mixed success.

I started off rather too fast, and there were too many miles to the first rest stop (21 miles). By the second rest stop, at about 30 miles, I was feeling great, and actually considering taking the long route home (70 miles total). But I was glad I didn’t. By the end of the ride, my legs were soggy wet noodles, and I was seriously struggling to make it up some big hills in the last few miles.

On the positive side, my average speed for the ride was about a mile faster than my normal rides. On the minus side, I was completely beat, and it took me several days to recover.

So this year I’m hoping for better. First, I will make a conscious effort to start off and maintain a conservative pace. Second, if the first SAG is too far, I’ll do my own rest stop; when riding alone, I typically rest every 10-15 miles, so I’ll try to keep with that schedule. Third, I’ll try to do a better job of keeping up my energy while riding, by eating and drinking regularly. Also, by doing a bit of pre-ride carb-loading, and by resting in the days leading up to the ride, I hope to remain strong to the end.

One thing that may actually help is the wind. If it’s coming from due south as predicted, it’ll be a strong headwind through the middle portions of the ride, but will then become a nice tailwind on the last leg, which should help me climb the hills and push me home.