53

What is 53? My resting heart rate. Why is that important? It's not.

But since I'm a geek and learning a bunch about bicycle racing that number is good to me. Earlier this year I checked my resting heart rate and it was at 67. As I understand it a lower resting heart rate means a wider range to work with. So, if my max heart rate remains 199, starting from 53 provides a larger working range for me.

Did I achieve this number by improving my fitness? Is it because I reduced my soda / caffeine / sugar intake? Did I simply do a better job at measuring my resting heart rate? Who knows.