← Blog/May 8, 2026 · 2 min read
Year 44 Starts Here
Three years in a row, same ride, same idea: start the birthday with miles instead of sleep. Here's how year 44 kicked off.
The tradition holds
Three years running now. Same premise: wake up early, get friends on bikes, ride before the day turns into cake and noise. This morning that meant wheels rolling at 5:57 AM.
I turned 44 today.
The numbers
- Distance: 35.94 miles
- Moving time: 2 hours 44 minutes
- Elevation: 1,958 ft
- Avg power: 117W
- Avg heart rate: 130 bpm
- Work: 1,144 kJ
- Suffer score: 97
Not a hammer session. Average watts of 117W is well below my current FTP of 216W. This was a social ride. The kind where you talk the whole time and barely notice the climbing until your legs remind you at mile 30.
What this ride is actually about
I started doing this because I wanted a ritual that wasn't passive. Birthdays are easy to let slide into a long brunch and a scroll through old photos. Nothing wrong with that. But getting outside, moving, doing something mildly hard before 9 AM with people you like, that sets a different tone for the year.
The suffer score of 97 sounds dramatic for 117 average watts. But 2 hours and 44 minutes at a steady aerobic effort adds up. The body notices even when the power numbers look modest.
The friends part matters
I'm not going to pretend the fitness was the point this morning. It wasn't. The point was the group. People who showed up at 6 AM on a Thursday because that's what you do for someone who keeps asking you to ride bikes with them.
If you've ever done TheBayRide, you know that feeling scales up. 135 miles around the Bay, hundreds of riders, and somewhere around mile 80 you stop thinking about watts entirely. You're just riding with people.
That's what today was. A small version of the same thing.
Year 44
Fitness is still in the rebuild. My FTP sits at 216W, down from a peak of 295W in July 2022. The work between now and August 29th is real work. But this morning wasn't about FTP. It was about showing up, doing the thing, and not letting another year start from the couch.
Three years in a row. I plan to make it four.
The 2026 Bay Ride is August 29th. Full loop is 135 miles. There's also a 35-mile option from SF to Oakland if you're earlier in your training. Details at TheBayRide.com.
From the ride
Ride the Bay with us
The Bay Ride is a charity bike ride around the Bay Area. 135 miles all the way around, or a 35-mile option from SF to Oakland.
Register