Finally getting the high at spin class!
 

Took well over a month to get past the feeling of impending death during spin classes I attend twice a week but in the past few weeks I've seen an almost sudden improvement in my ability to hang. Past few classes have actually had me hit that point of almost blowing up and then suddenly feeling great! that endorphin release (i'm assuming that's what it is) is truly an awesome feeling.

I surely hope this translates into better average speeds on the road this spring so I can ride with a bigger variety of groups on 20-30 mile rides. Not sure what the impact will be on 60+ mile rides but i'll be better prepared for this spring than I was last year when I did very little off season work. the class structure has worked better at keeping me going than the solo thing where it's much easier to slack off.

Sounds like taking the class has mixed up your routine and pushed you - all good things.

Air quality is such a huge factor for me, fresh air allows me to do twice as much.

We have a sunny day here today, above average temperatures. And I found a new bike path a few days ago which a friend took me to while we walked his dog.

A notice on the path asked that bikes not use the trails when they are muddy, which is right now. I will be walking/sprinting until the paths harden up, not a huge fan of mud anyway.

One of the hardest things to learn when cycling is to be able to use your muscles for the full 360 degrees of pedal rotation. When I was racing back in the 1970's and 1980's our racing club would get the new cyclists to work very hard on pulling back and then up and over the top. It was difficult since we made ourselves rides with just one foot for a while and then the other and usually in a very low gear so pedal speed would have to really increase. We would lock all the riders gears to a very low one and let the kids use all there's so they would enjoy beating a senior class rider some times!

Usually long distance riders don't worry much about this or hill climbers either. Close course races such as velodrome or criterium rides would need the pedal speed especially at the end for the sprint.