Weekend Rides

I was determined, in a procrastinating, major avoidance kind of way, to ride today, as I need to prep for the Wild Goose Chase. After having breakfast, doing a lot of work on an ongoing project, having lunch, then distracting myself with (ick) things like vacuuming, and finally taking a shower, I moseyed out of the house in the late afternoon and racked the bike for the drive to a nearby trail. It was 5:00 PM when I got out of the car; I had 2 hours until sunset. A leisurely ride, 20 miles, I thought, just to shut up my inner nag.

Darn nag. I did just over 25, saw two Great Blue Herons, a cormorant, and the usual evening/dusk/dark kamikaze bunnies.

I've lost my biking will and am having a lot of trouble getting it back. I think that's why I procrastinated so much about making a reservation for the hotel for Wild Goose (and now they are sold out, of course). I'm glad I got out there this weekend, but had told myself last week that I really needed to get in two 30-mile rides back-to-back this weekend. I really need more seat time. I don't plan my weekends around long rides, as I've done in the past, and haven't been riding during the week at all. I just am not feeling it; it's taking longer and longer before I feel as though I am in any kind of groove (now at least 10 miles). It's not quite agony, but I have to tell myself, "It'll get better; even if it doesn't, it'll eventually be over." I hate this. :(

It happens--you sound like you're stressed. Your bike will still be there once it's over. :)

I want to ride, but alas, school won't let me--I have a test Thursday, and if you've read my posts over in Dear So and So, I'm not optimistic. I'm not sleeping too well, so on weekends I sleep in and miss my prime riding time, and then I have all the other stuff to do. :( I did sneak out for a 4-mile ride around my neighborhood this evening. Hopefully next weekend I'll be able to go out and ride!

Sunday ride was the first one for the El Tour de Tucson training- a very short 1 mile ride to a local park and then an hour of skill/drill: riding slow, clipping in/out practice, paceline buddy rides and a tennis ball slalom course on the grass. I did much better this year than last year;)

Next week: cornering drills. After that we will actually do some real training rides.

I rode 75 yesterday and another 75 today. Nothing special, just our usual riding routes. Weather was cool and cloudy with just a few sprinkles and not too much wind...the temps (53 at start, 63 at finish) were actually perfect for riding.

Did my longest ride ever (69.6 mi), on my new frame. First time that I lead a ride too!!I totally was not expecting for anyone to show up, so I was caught off guard when 13 people wanted to come. It went without a hitch, only one person had a flat tire at the end. Although some people were a going a little faster than I posted, but the most part, the slower riders were able to keep up. The last 10 miles were a little tougher because it was a steady climb, so with my slow climbing skills, I stayed with another slower rider.

We just barely made it to the end before the storm came in. First 30 miles, it was 16.7 mph avg...that was my FASTEST 30 miles ever! It was supposed to be a 14 mph avg ride (whoops!), and I ended up going 15.72 mph avg for the entire 70 miles. To me, that's FAST! Last time I did 50 miles or less, I was going 14mph avg! :-)

They really liked the route, as I kept it a little easy on purpose but only one big hill.

I thought I would be in a bit of a pain today, but not the case at all! I feel nothing, and I could have gone a lot further. So I know I'm ready for the Century ride...however, I'm slightly worried because it's a lot more elevation gains than my 70 miler ride...so we'll see!

18 miles chased a cyclist.. and dragged his partner back to his wheel.. averaged 14.8 miles. Stopped for breakfast with friends. Fun ride.

:D