This past Saturday I decided that I was going to go out and spend sometime in the saddle. Since we only have 7 weeks to the MS150, I planned a route from my house in Wentzville, to my Mom & Dads house in Lake St. Louis. The route came out to be 50 miles, and had 935 ft of climbing. Which is just a few hundred feet short of the amount of climbing that we will do over 100 miles when we ride the MS150.
So I got up early because it was going to be one of the hottest days of the year. I had a quick bite to eat, and off I went. The ride was pretty uneventful. I was glad to see how many people were out riding even though it was insanely hot! The only down point was that it seemed like every time I was climbing a hill, the wind was blowing straight in my face. That made for a long day!! All that wind blowing in my face finally caught up to me at mile 40. Both of my legs started cramping, in the same exact spot. So I got off the bike and did some stretching and kind of just relaxed for a few minutes under a big shade tree. Once I got back on I was ok, and I finished up my ride at a pretty easy pace. It took me about 3 hrs and 20 min. I had fun, but riding is definitely better when there is a group to help drag you home!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Peach Pedal ride in Marine, IL, gravel and water...
I decided to do the Peach Pedal Trailnet ride in Marine, IL on Sunday. It was a good way to get in 53 miles and the day did not look to be too hot. Unfortunately for some people, the heavy rains on Saturday night put a bit of a challenge into the ride. There was gravel on a lot of the turns, that had people a bit upset. I figure if you slow down and are aware of the situation there is nothing to worry about. No issues here! The bigger obstacle was water across the road in two spots. The first was a low water bridge crossing that looked to rarely get wet. The water was 6" to 8" deep and moving fast. Plus there was mud on the road on both sides of the bridge. Most people turned back to look for an alternate route, we picked up the bikes and walked across. It was a good way to cool off. We came to the second one at about 40 miles. The water was across the road between two corn fields, again about 6" deep. I did not get off the bike for this one, just pedal across, like I was a kid again riding after a good rain. I got just as wet as walking since me feet would go into the water at each downstroke of the pedal.
53 miles in just under 4 hours of riding, we had a 13.5 average. I felt good, but could not imagine that being the halfway point of a century. I better log some serious miles before the MS!!!
53 miles in just under 4 hours of riding, we had a 13.5 average. I felt good, but could not imagine that being the halfway point of a century. I better log some serious miles before the MS!!!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Hot weather
The past few weeks have been tough to get out. Since Makenzie is here I have to maximize my ride time. I have been hitting the Thursday Momentum group ride almost every week. The past few days I have gotten in some good ride time. Thursday momentum, Friday Babler hill training, Saturday Schlafly group ride, Sunday MTB ride with Aaron.
The Saturday Schlafly group ride was good. It consisted of Jeff, Aaron, Doug, RJ, and myself. The goal was to take and EASY 30 mile ride. Well Doug wanted to push the pace so of course I had to. We ended up backing down a bit and enjoying a beautiful morning in St. Paul. 30 miles at 17mph was a decent day, sort of relaxing for me since most of my rides lately are 30 miles and at least 22-23 mph.
Friday i went out to Babler park by myself to put in some torture. The hills out there are sweet! I only rode two laps, had a long tough day at work and was walking up and down hills all day. HUH what a great time to ride hills after a hard day at work! Ended up hitting 49.8 mph down hill. I still want to hit 50 there!
Sunday, this morning, Aaron and I went out to Indian Camp Creek for what was supposed to be a good MTB ride followed by a good easy road ride. the roads out there are very nice and very little traffic. Well about 10 minutes left in the mtb ride the thunder and lightening started rolling in. The rain started coming pretty good but we were in the tree packed trail. Once in the open field I turned on the afterburners and sprinted to the car trying to get out of the nasty weather. That was the fastest myself and Aaron put our bikes on the rack and we said "see ya later" and got the hell out of there. Usually we sit and bullshit for a long time after a ride, but today it was a matter of seconds.
keep riding!
Jay
The Saturday Schlafly group ride was good. It consisted of Jeff, Aaron, Doug, RJ, and myself. The goal was to take and EASY 30 mile ride. Well Doug wanted to push the pace so of course I had to. We ended up backing down a bit and enjoying a beautiful morning in St. Paul. 30 miles at 17mph was a decent day, sort of relaxing for me since most of my rides lately are 30 miles and at least 22-23 mph.
Friday i went out to Babler park by myself to put in some torture. The hills out there are sweet! I only rode two laps, had a long tough day at work and was walking up and down hills all day. HUH what a great time to ride hills after a hard day at work! Ended up hitting 49.8 mph down hill. I still want to hit 50 there!
Sunday, this morning, Aaron and I went out to Indian Camp Creek for what was supposed to be a good MTB ride followed by a good easy road ride. the roads out there are very nice and very little traffic. Well about 10 minutes left in the mtb ride the thunder and lightening started rolling in. The rain started coming pretty good but we were in the tree packed trail. Once in the open field I turned on the afterburners and sprinted to the car trying to get out of the nasty weather. That was the fastest myself and Aaron put our bikes on the rack and we said "see ya later" and got the hell out of there. Usually we sit and bullshit for a long time after a ride, but today it was a matter of seconds.
keep riding!
Jay
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