Originally Posted by 70sSanO

Others have mentioned this. I’m in the camp of slower mph and more variety.

Slowing your speed does wonders for mileage. When I rode with my wife, I went much slower over the same route. At the end of the ride I was pretty refreshed and could have keep going much further to equal my normal workout level.

Any place new is exploring. Exploring is usually interesting. You concentrate more on the ride and less on speed and mileage.

In my opinion, throw your zones out the window, at least for now. If you are doing 12 miles consistently at zone 2/3, but struggle at 15 miles, it is not really helping.

Over time go from 12 to 20 and learn to ride and recover throughout the ride. You need to figure out how your body responds at different levels. Being able to back off and recover during a ride is important. But you need to learn what works for you.

John