Today I went back out to try another 20 miler on my XC mountain bike after using the tips y'all gave me. I was around 2.3 km short of a 20 miler, so a little more than a mile, but that doesn't matter too much.

Tips I tried:

• Aired up my tires by 10-15 PSI (Now at 50 in the front, 55 in the back.
• Fixed my handlebar sweep (I had installed them backwards before...what can I say, it was my first time building a bicycle 😅)
• Focused more on cadence than easier peddling - I.E instead of going to a low gear up a large hill and tiring my legs out by spinning, I kept it in a higher gear, pushing my cadence down a bit, but both getting me up the hill faster, and keeping my HR down.
• rode on the road more as opposed to the sidewalks to avoid potholes and obstacles.

Things to consider:

• I paused my smartwatch on stop lights, water breaks, pedestrian stop lights, and while I ate a snack.
• There were three rather large hills on this route I took and one pretty steady climb upwards. The last two of these hills would have been impossible for me to climb, as they were almost a kilometer long and just too steep, so I put my smart watch on pause for these hills as well.

Things I'm planning to do in the near future:

• going to buy myself some semi-slick tires: specifically, the Kenda K908. They seem to be a decent budget option, but if y'all have any other suggestions, I'd be open to hearing them!

Anyway, now for my results.

I don't know if these stats are more in line with what everyone else is getting, considering I paused on stop lights and 2 hills, but I would say I'm perfectly happy with a result like this.

Thank you so much to everyone who gave advice and help!