Mellow ride; too slow?

Yesterday was a slow ride, an hour and a half of mostly slumming it in Zone 1 and low Zone 2 – whatever felt comfortable at the time.  I figured it was more of an active recovery ride than a “real” training ride, and I didn’t want to be exhausted for today, which is five hours with 5,000 feet of climbing.  I think I’m going to head over and tackle Mt. Diablo, if I can find my East Bay cycling map.

I am at this point gravely concerned about my speed.  My Garmin Edge tells me that I’m climbing at roughly 1400′ an hour (while climbing – does not count descending time), which is not a bad speed, but not fast enough for the DR.  I’m guessing I’ll have to be able to climb at 1800′ – 2000’/hour in order to complete all five passes, including time for breaks, lunch, descents, etc.  Given that I have 2.75 months left and am also ramping up my cycling volume, I don’t know if that 25-40% increase in speed is possible.  It’s possible that I may finish only four passes.  Disappointing, but possibly more realistic?

Anyway, I’m going to continue targeting all five passes – you’ll never get there if you don’t try.  And who knows, perhaps I’ll manage to finish in time…!

Off to Mt. Diablo!