Fantastic riding!
I just just hope that starting so hard will not come back to haunt her. But this might be her taking it easy as she warms up, just like TG and Tarzan did.
Though as Auntie Helen said riding around in "circles" for a year would do my motivation/head in.
Looking at Amanda's rides on Strava so far, it looks to me that she'll be able to sustain what she is doing but there's no guarantee and I don't know all the facts.
What really gets you is the day to day grind that erodes your strength.
I wasn't taking it easy at the start, I had dark, cold and ice to contend with. Having to stop to check that the road ahead wasn't icy at night time did slow me down quite a lot. On one day I was riding with a journalist and at the end of the day I told him to stop very slowly. We were both riding on ice. We walked on the grass verge to get past it.
The real difference between Amanda, Kurt and I, is that Amanda got fit before she started. My original plan was that I'd get faster during the year. I did, but not by as much as I expected. Kurt also seemed to think the same as his original plan was that he'd get faster during the year. What Kurt actually did was to start faster than he expected, then slow down, then speed up again at the end. Kurt said that he wasn't especially fit when he started.
Amanda's circuit looks very good too. Generally, I think circuits aren't ideal because you're guaranteed a headwind and I prefer to fight the wind when it's eased off in the evening rather than in the middle of the day when it is stronger. But Amanda's circuit looks to be well sheltered from the wind and very flat. Perhaps too flat? I (and a number of others) think that very gently undulating is better. But it seems to be working for Amanda.
Whether Amanda can keep it going remains to be seen, but from my point of view, I think she can.
The fact is that nobody knows the best way to do a Year Record attempt and all we have so far is theories and ideas that haven't been properly tested and nowhere near enough attempts taken place to have any real data to work from. I think it will take at least 20 years before we have any real clues, let alone know the best way.
Speed does make a difference but also so does the number of hours you can ride per day without doing too much. There's a balance between the two. I think I may have worked out my limit for number of hours, but then again, that isn't certain. I think that Kajsa was, and probably still is at her limit for number of hours per day, even though she is spending as many hours riding as I was resting. Kajsa did have a very hard time during April and into early May. I saw first hand what she was going through and it really was very tough, but she has pulled through. I expect that some people don't think that Kajsa's mileages are very impressive by comparison, but all things considered, I have a lot of respect and admiration for Kajsa.
It's not impossible that Amanda could go through something similar. Kurt also had a hard time after several months, whereas I had a forced break. Sort of.
I wonder if I could actually ride an hour or two longer each day if I was stronger. Not something I would account for in planning going by the information I have so far, but it can't be ruled out.
