So, a special thanks to the Rails to Trails program. They gave me an excellent bike ride last night, and probably for years to come.

Last night after I got off work, Missy and I took Oscar to the dog park, and when we got back, I went out on the bike. I have been reading a book on cycling, one that talks a lot about training, racing, etc. One thing it mentioned was that if you can time trial 10 miles in under 30 minutes, you could be racing. Time trialing is on your own, going as fast as you can, for a set distance.

I grabbed the bike trail a half mile from my house and it took me north where I connected with the Simon Kenton Trail…incredibly smooth and flat. The sun was getting low and the trail was beautiful…farms and fields.

I started the time while still in town, which caused me some grief. I had to slow several times for people not paying attention and come to a complete stop at an intersection where a driver wasn’t watching the bike path. Once I made it out of town, it was excellent.

At mile 4 I thought I was done. My legs were burning and my lungs ached. But by mile 5 I was doing great. I should have warmed up for 4 miles apparently. At mile 6 I passed a large group. Head nods all around. At 8.5 miles I passed a couple well into their seventies, grandma wiping sweat from her forehead and grandpa looking over their bikes. Awesome. From mile 9 on, I started to slow. The end was coming and I wasn’t giving myself enough crap for letting up. Shortly after the 10 miles was done, there was a parking lot for me to hang out in for a few minutes before returning.

On the way back, I yelled at myself. “Cmon. Cmon!” Legs were doing good. Not on fire, but definately straining. Bent over, hands in the drops, head up. Pushing the pedals. If my speed fell below 18, I got angry. “CMON!” Drinks of water. Sun setting. Breeze. Back in town. Zipping by street signs and runners. Blasting through intersections. Out of the saddle, stomping.

1st leg:
Average Speed – 14.8
Max Speed – 22.3
Time – 38 minutes 22 seconds

2nd leg:
Avg. Speed – 17.2
Max Speed – 23.4
Time – 34 minutes 40 seconds

As mentioned briefly in the previous post, I’ve started cycling in the last few weeks. It’s been very very good. It’s kind of hard to put all the benefits and reasons I like it into words. Perhaps a story will enlighten.

Last night I found out about a cycle shop in our town. This morning I decided to ride over there and get to know the owner. I got ready to leave at about 9. It was raining. But I wanted to go anyway. Would I have walked somewhere? Absolutely not. But cycling is different. I was going regardless of the rain. I set out and was a bit unsteady because of the wet pavement. So, on the advice of a friend, I concentrated on my cadence and finished the 5 miles pretty quickly. I rolled up to the store and it didn’t open until 10. So i rode around the neighborhood nearby for a while. Flat tire. I walked the bike back up to the store and waited for about 20 minutes or so. 10:10, still not open. I checked the hours again. Closed on Wed. Call missy from the laundromat. She picks me up.

Regardless of the flat and the closed store and that I have to wait until tomorrow to fix my tire so I can ride to work, it was worth it. I got 5 miles in after all. Average speed today only 14.3 mph.

I added “Enter a bicycle race of at least 50 miles” onto my to do list.