54 down, 29 to go

Did another lunch ride, but switched my route up yesterday. I did the steeper, tougher (although shorter) climb up Sunshine Canyon. I was feeling pretty good, although I did have to use the granny gears on the steeper sections, so I kept climbing steady as I could go without blowing myself up too much.

I hit the cutoff for Poorman (normally coming from the other direction) and thought about just turning around and heading back, but decided to descend Poorman and get in another climb. So I sped down Poorman, stopping at the bottom long enough to take a couple drinks and get turned around for my attempt up Poorman.

I really started with no motive, just figured I should get in some more mileage and climbing. As I started I tried to keep a good speed and cadence while climbing in the middle ring. I felt better than normal despite the tougher climb I had done on the way up the canyon. I kept pushing in the middle ring, and when I came to the final section (which gets steeper) I did everything I could to make it to the top without using the granny.

As I crested the top I was pleasantly surprised to have climbed Poorman for the first time totally in the middle ring. Upon pressing the lap timer at the apex I got another pleasant surprise.....8:59! My previous best was 9:53, and my goal for the season is 8:30. So in the last two weeks I've gone for 11:12 to 9:53 to 8:59 on the Poorman climb. I'm not sure how I'm shaving this much time this quickly, but I like it. Again these are pretty poor times for Boulder standards (fast would be 6 minutes), but for me its a very clear sign that whatever I'm doing seems to be working for me. So I've already taken 54 seconds of my previous best and just need 29 more seconds to hit my season goal of Poorman in 8:30. Maybe I should have set a more ambitious goal....

In other news, my road bike arrives tomorrow and I'm giddy about that. Should be a great option for me to get some more mileage in and being able to ride from the house should be a great option for the days when time is short. I've been riding my 30lb, 6" travel bike like a road bike so much lately that I have a feeling this 17lb road bike is going to feel really fast in comparison.