You're probably thinking, "what's so exciting about riding outside?"  But to those of us in the Northeast, this was the first day where the morning temperature was above freezing, and there was negligible wind (no windchill factor).  This was preceded by a few days of rain, so I decided to head outside and try PC riding on the bike path.  Safety first, as Frank emphasizes in his welcome manual!  Boy is he right. 

The first big revelation from riding outside is that it is difficult to clip in while getting started outside.  I couldn't figure out why it was so hard, but when you're coasting from starting up, the unclipped crank arm just sits at the bottom and sways a bit as the bike rolls.  Usually while on the trainer, everything is at a dead stop and the crank arm does not just dangle.  So, the reality is that we use the fixed orientation of the cranks to steady things while clipping in.  Well, taking that for granted is now a thing of the past for me.  It is quite challenging to clip in while riding outside, so I highly recommend 1) practicing pedaling with just one leg to get yourself going from a stop and 2) start on a bike path or less traveled road to practice clipping in when not riding on a trainer!

I'll unveil more revelations in the coming blogs so I just don't report stats in them, but first today's outdoor numbers.....

t = 1:26; AvgP = 127; Avg rpm = 63; CP 5' = 200

You'll notice that I put the CP 5' which is the highest so far on PCs, so there must be some progress. 

t = 1:26; AvgP = 127; Avg rpm = 63; CP 5' = 200