Basta can ride

Holy moly.

We went out for our 3 hour ride this morning. I told Basta to warm up at an easy pace for a good 20 minutes by riding with me, then take off. 2 minute balls-out sprints followed by 20 perky-paced recovery minutes. Repeat until total time = 240 minutes.

Well, his warmup pace is now 17-18 mph. I did my best to keep up with him. I kept asking him if that was an easy, no-effort, warmup pace and he kept saying yes. I believe him, too. His whole appearance on a bike has changed. He looks like he knows what he's doing now. His line is true -- he doesn't roam here and there down the path. His upper body is still. His legs are pumping and look like he has pretty efficient 360⁰ pressure going on. He's fast. Amazingly fast, compared to where he was two weeks ago. One long ride with the big boys and he understands how to be fast now? Amazing.

I kept up with him by drafting when I could. Also, fortunately, there were plenty of lights in the first 30 minutes of our bike ride on the way to the river path. He got caught at pretty much every one of them and thus I was able to catch him. I rode his wheel for as long as possible. Then he was gone. Until the next light. He's riding 20mph pretty consistently now. I am most pleased.

Shockingly enough, I'm riding faster, too. I've gone from 14-15 mph to comfortably 16-17mph, thanks to the improved pedal stroke. A few weeks of practice with that and it's almost second-nature now. With work, I can do 16-17 for 10+ miles. Not the whole ride, but for long stretches. Go me.