First "Real" Outdoor Ride of 2023!

I really have NOT been itching to get outside. I don't mind the trainer, and with my random schedule of fitting in workouts between classes and taking the boys to and from school, the trainer guarantees that I won't be stuck with a flat or other bike issue 10 miles from home when I need to be getting somewhere ASAP. But after this long winter (the 3rd snowiest in the Twin Cities on record), I got out for a ride last week on a stretch of 4 days when it hit 80 degrees... before we got more snow this past weekend.

(I technically was out at the end of March with the boys, but that was with my cruiser bike and not my tri bike. And I've biked a few times with my boys as they've ran as they're training for a 5K. But this post is about my first "real" ride of 2023 on my tri bike.)

I headed out to do my "River Road / Shepard Road / Ramsey Hill / Summit Ave" loop that I like (and often do as a 14-15 mile tempo ride), but I was planning on adding in plenty of extra and not doing it at tempo speeds. I hit Big River's Trail up to just past the Hwy 62 tunnel and then turned back. I climbed Ramsey Hill relatively fast (but my legs DID feel worked) in 1:20 - I like to glace at my watch at the bottom when I cross the crosswalk and see how long before I cross the crosswalk or stop line at the top. I'm generally quite consistent around 1:22 to 1:25. Slower than that is slow, and faster than that is fast. So 1:20 was good.

Then I added in a few more miles up and down Marshall near the end of my ride. I kept the effort up, but far from "tempo" pace. I finished 25 miles of city riding with a 19.9 mph aveage:

A counter-clockwise loop with 2 out-and-backs thrown in.


Eiffel when we were done.


I found a vise-grip in the middle of the road by my local library on my cool down! Sweet new tool for me!

I was curious to compare this to my previous "first rides" of every year. I didn't think I ROCKED it, but I felt pretty good. Here's how it stacked up:

2023: 19.9 mph, 25.4 miles, RR loop plus Marshall, moderate, felt good. April 13.

Previous years:

2022: 19.8 mph, 28.2 miles, long warm-up and then a tempo ride. April 12.
2021: 19.0 mph, 22 miles, Greenway (and detour). Pushed a bit, but not hard. Felt good and didn't get tired. March 9.
2020: 19.1 mph, 20 miles, POOPED! May 3. (Spent winter in "the boot," hence the late ride.)
2019: 18.2 mph, 23 miles, Greenway (no construction). Felt "trashed," March 27.
2018: 20.8 mph, 15 miles, TEMPO ride down Greenway. April 24.
2017: 18.5 mph, 12.8 miles, Greenway. Feb 12 (141 miles outside that Feb!).
2016: 18.6 mph, 28 miles, Greenway. Feb 7.
2015: 19.0 mph, 24 miles, Greenway and RR loop up Ramsey. March 14.
2014: 19.2 mph, 16 miles, RR loop up Ramsey. April 6.
2013: 15.0 mph, 19 miles. April 5.
2012: 18.7 mph, 23 miles, Greenway. March 11.
2011: 18.5 mph, 15.5 miles, Greenway. April 2.
2010: 18.4 mph, 35 miles, Greenway. March 18

So this was the 14th year tracking this info: 2023 was the 12th latest (with only [injured] 2020 and 2018 happening later in the year), but it was the 2nd fastest! (Which isn't THAT important when you think that I'd be outdoors for a month in many of these past years by this date and would have improved my fitness a lot by this time.) It's also my 4th longest "first ride" for the year behind two 28 milers and a 35 miler long ago.

So all-in-all, I was happy with that first ride! Now I need it to warm up just a BIT more to help me get out there some more - we're topping out in the mid-40s today with lots of drizzle. No thanks! :)