Category: road rides

I took a longer lunch yesterday to get a ride in on the Athens Bike Path. Despite my legs feeling a little weak initially, I managed to crank out 33 miles in 2:05. It was a gorgeous day for a ride. There were lots of folks on the bike path who were smiling just like me, happy to be out in the nice weather riding, running, walking, or skating. On the leg back from Nelsonville, I met a guy named Bill. He caught up with me and we rode together for about 10 miles. He said since he was retired, he was able to ride the path at least 3 days a week. He easily kept up with my pace (about 16.5 mph), which shows that cycling is a sport that you can do all through your life.

The video embedded above is mostly my ramblings at various points in the ride. There’s even a surprise near the middle of the video. Hint: It’s remarks about those really laid-back riders. 😉

Me legs definitely feel like I rode 33 miles, particularly when walking up and down stairs. Not sore, just a bit fatigued. Perhaps tomorrow I can get back on the bike path, only this time I’ll tow the boys in the trailer.

Here’s a   video I took last September on a loop around Fox Lake. As I mention in the video, the ride took me to almost 800 miles for 2008. Yesterday’s ride took me over 100 miles for 2008, yet I felt almost as strong as I did when I rode the same route in September.

I was in a hurry yesterday, so I didn’t stop to take video or pictures. More pics and videos of upcoming rides are definitely in order.

Today I rode my   Fox Lake Loop route.

21.87 miles in 1 hour 28 mins.

14.85 mph avg speed.

34.78 mph max speed.

551m (1870 feet) of climbing, according to Sanoodi.

Chased by 3 dogs.

The ride was great.   This was my first ride not on the bike path this year, and it felt truly awesome.   I’ve done this route serveral times last year, so I am very familiar with it.   I have to say that while this is only my 7th ride of the year, I felt stronger on this ride than I have in the past.   I was able to go a bit faster, and muscle over some of the hills in a harder gear.   I only had to use the 32 tooth cog once, and that was on the last hill of the day.   I’m really excited that some of the conditioning that I’ve been doing over the winter seems to have had some effect.   It’s really encouraging that I’m in decent shape this early in the spring, and I don’t think I’ll have much trouble doing the 45 mile leg of the Tour de Forest on Saturday.   Now to lose the 10 pounds I gained back from last summer, and I’ll be flying.

Lunchtime ride Baker to Peden to E. State street turnaround
8.55 miles
27.5 minutes
18.5 mph average speed

Baker to Strouds Run
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Rode to Strouds this morning.   15.33 miles in 60 minutes.Lots of rollers and a couple of good hills. Half mile climb out of Strouds is fun.