\”Fifty-four forty or fight!\” was a campaign slogan some two centuries ago. \”Forty or fight\” might describe my ride this morning: do 40 miles, or fight to keep going for a lesser distance. Today, fortunately, I didn\’t have to fight much.

When I started out at 6:30 am, there was almost no wind. After having achy legs all last week, I suddenly felt stronger than usual. For an 11.4-mile segment of my ride, I averaged a shade over 15 mph! That\’s definitely an improvement.

I\’m not yet capable of maintaining 15 mph for several hours at a time, and my overall average speed for 40.40 miles was a modest 12.77 mph. The weird thing is, although I seem to have gotten stronger, I still felt slow!

Without the chest strap for my Garmin, I don\’t know for sure what my heart rate was. I tried to be aware of my RPE.  I\’m sure that, at times, my heart rate was in it maximum range: rapid, deep breathing is a pretty good sign.

Of course the temperature had climbed well into the 80s by the time I got back home. The wind was getting stronger on the return journey, but was more or less behind me most of the time.

Forty or fight is to be the Sunday ride program for the next month or so. Tour de Cure is just five months away. But here\’s the rub. Do I work to ride 40 miles faster; or work to extend my mileage?