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Three days and 131 miles

Posted: June 17, 2008 in Cycling

With Jess up in Toronto visiting her mom, I had the weekend to myself, so I decided to catch up on my cycling. This year hasn't turned out the way I'd expected it would, mileage-wise, so I need to get some riding in before the whole season is a bust.

On Friday, I waited until my official telework hours were over (5pm) and set out on a fast-paced ride. I did a 30-mile loop that I put together earlier in the year, but I left out a 1.5 mile segment to avoid afternoon traffic. I pushed pretty hard, and ended up with a 16.7 mph average.

On Saturday I knew I had rain showers to work around, so I left early, and rode our usual 45 mile loop. This is where I ran across the bike crash that I mentioned in my previous entry. It was a good ride, though a bit slower than Friday's ride, but it felt good to ride two days in a row.

On Sunday, I decided to ride a little later, giving the roads some time to dry out from the previous evening's rain showers. At around 11am, I set out on our 70 mile loop, planning to do some hill climbing. This route includes a few short hills of 14-16% grade, and while they aren't long, they're still thigh-burners.

Unfortunately, at around mile 20, my front tire blew out. I pulled over to fix it, but noticed that the tire had a lot of sidewall damage (these tires are around 3 seasons old, and 3 seasons is pushing it for the roads we have around here). I stuck a couple of folded up dollar bills between the tube and the sidewall of the tire to reinforce it, and limped home.

Once I got home, I mounted up a pair of new tires (I always keep some spares on hand) and headed back out. I was eager to finish the ride, but my legs were not too keen about the long break to work on the bike, and refused to perform up to spec. It took around 10-15 miles of insistence by me to convince them that they had no choice, and they fortunately came to life right before I got to the steep climbs.

Due to the modification of the ride, I only got 59 miles in, but on the last series of hills (a steep, 4-part climb that's right at the end of the ride) my legs started to let me know that they were about done.

My hopes for a short ride yesterday evening vanished in a huge evening thunderstorm, so I took it as an "off" day. Probably just as well. I needed this weekend though. It felt really good to get back on the road.

Total miles this season so far: only 447 angry

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