First 50 mile ride!

[northstar]

I just had to post about my ride yesterday. After taking a spill two weeks ago, buying a new wheelset (yikes...) and recuperating while on a camping trip for a week, I took my bike out for a ride yesterday. Warm sun, very light, cool, breeze...I was planning to do about 25 miles and call it a day. I drove out to the edge of town (Orono, for you MN girls) and took off along rolling lake roads, lined with orchards, horse farms, goat farms, cows, lakes, and even rural soccer fields. At one point a boy of about five ran down the driveway, waving and calling out Hello!!! Once I had nearly reached the town at which I was going to turn around, I stopped to take a drink and I realized just how perfect the day was, and I hadn't ridden in over a week...what silliness it would have been to quit and go home! So, I called my brother, who lived about 35 miles away and asked if he would drive me back to my car if I rode all the way out to his place. He said sure, so I went on and did my first fifty mile ride (out to Hutchinson, for you MN gals!). It was utterly perfect! Almost no traffic, beautiful farm lined roads, birds singing, yellow butterflies on the blooming alfalfa, freshly mown hayfields...everything an ideal ride would be to me. Once I made it to Hutch, I had to ask my brother's roommate to take me to the store to buy some clothes (wasn't about to sit rotting in my biking clothes for four hours while waiting for my brother), but it was worth it!

This small town, countryside touring could be addictive...

And no way was I going to turn around and ride home! Sorry, ladies, but I can't swing 100 miles...yet!

[SouthernBelle]

Great milestone and sounds like a lovely ride.

[rij73]

Sounds like a beautiful, peaceful ride! Congrats! Nice brother, too.

[mtbdarby]

Great job Northstar! You have to enjoy the good days when you can and you took full advantage of it. And kudos to your bro for driving you back so you could do it!

[NMRider]

Good job, North. When you are in the flow, good things happen when you just go with it.

[Tri Girl]

Congrats on a great ride. Sounds like it was perfectly peaceful. What a great day to get out there and have some biking fun!
(p.s.- that hundred miler will come before you know it )

[rapid cycler]

Funny, that's how my first 50-miler happened—not by plan but spontaneously, because it just felt right.

Congratulations, and many happy miles to come!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

This small town, countryside touring could be addictive...

Welcome to the club! Yay!!!!

[northstar]

Yes, Lisa, I have to say, when I read your posts, your routes sound really charming and lovely!

[RoadRaven]

100 miles will come, grasshopper... that is my intention before the end of this year too...

50 miles is a great milestone (literally )

And so much nicer to do it in the way you have, on a nice day with lovely scenery. Part of the buzz for me on long rides is the smell and the feel of the breeze, not just what I see...

A good feeling, neh?

[HeatherErin]

Congrats on the milestone! Not quite there yet myself.

[Jiffer]

I'm completely jealous of your storybook 50 mile ride. Sounds amazing. The longest I've done on my single is 30 and I'm itching to make it longer soon. Either 35 or 40 in a couple of days. I've gone up to 60 on the tandem.

Your story of riding to your brother's and having him drive you back reminds me of when I was a kid and we went for a family bike ride on the bike trail. The farther we got, the more my parents realized how long it would take to get home if we turned around. So, instead, we rode on to my Aunt's house and she took us all home. Here I was, like 7 years old, riding a stingray, banana seat yellow bike with a basket on it. No gears. We went from Huntington Beach, CA to Yorba Linda. It would have been somewhere between 20 and 25 miles. Little did I know that this would become a huge passion in my future! MANY years later.

[northstar]

Part of the buzz for me on long rides is the smell and the feel of the breeze, not just what I see...

A good feeling, neh?

A GREAT feeling! It was really beautiful, meditative, even. I hope there are lots of days like that to come!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yes, Lisa, I have to say, when I read your posts, your routes sound really charming and lovely!

Now you are one of us.

Hey, you know something?- after I got over the amazement of my being able to do a 30 mile, then 40, then a 50, then a 60, then a 70 (with sometimes months in between these achievements, mind you) anyhow- after I got over the amazement, I find my attitude is changing a bit...
After I did my 70 mile ride, everyone kept saying Oh, you'll be doing a century next!! Well, I have nothing against doing a century at some point, but now I am starting to think of my rides in terms of time rather than miles.

It's sort of like when I play music- I don't say "I played 10 tunes today". Rather, I might say I enjoyed playing music for an hour.

I get up in the morning and think Hmmm...do I want to ride for 2 hours today or 3? (that translates roughly to about 22 vs. 32 miles). I choose based on how strong I feel that day, what my schedule is like, and the weather. My REAL goal is just riding some great rides on my beloved bike and seeing the birds and the villages, feeling the wind and hearing the crickets. My other goal is getting home feeling all wonderful and tired after the exercise, feeling good and relaxed and happy all over and knowing that I'm getting healthier and stronger.
This morning I had a Good Ride and I rode for 3 hours.

[Jo-n-NY]

Your ride sounded wonderful!!!!

A few fellow employees here have relocated to MN as it is the home base of my company. Are you familiar with Opperman Dr? Anyway, the thought has crossed my mind because I hear the roads are great for cycling, but then I think of the Winter, ugh.

I love reading about your rides, however

~ JoAnn