Buddy Ride

Perfect night for a ride. Met up with Remus for a 40 miler. Good times!

Cannon Cruise

Friday I was flat out pissed that I had to work Saturday am to get caught up on things and miss the group ride (which I had missed the previous 3 weekends). Then I found out that they cancelled it due to possiblity of rain. By then I had already planned a special trip to Paris (MI) in honor of the last stage of the Tour de France. When I checked the radar this morning, looked like the Paris trip would get rained out, so I stuck around and rode with the group instead. Good thing I did. It was one of those days where my legs felt heavy, was at the back of the group almost all of the time. I got dropped a few times, which never happens. Oh well, good to get it out of the way. Excited to ride with Remus (and maybe Jack) this Tuesday.

Heat Wave of 2011

Well, this doesn't look like much, but after 15 or so miles, I was dead tired. Had to get in 20 miles just to say I did, so I did. Drank one whole bottle of water during the ride, and used some of the other to spray into my helmet and down my back. I was the only idiot out there today on the rail trial getting exercise.

Not sure who to believe, but the news said temp of 97 with a heat index of 105. Car said 101 on the way home. Garmin says 93. Whatever. It was effin' hot, that's all I know.

This fly decided he'd rather end his life than live through another day of this heat.

Heat-Hawt

Today was a good day for a sweat-through jersey. Garmin says temps were in the high-80's, but Wood TV 8 says max was 90 with a heat index of 95. And today was the cool day for the week. Worst part is the dew point, which was 76...in the "opressive" category. Short ride, but man did it feel good to sweat a little. I'd like to get out two more times this week. If you check out the details of this ride, I'm impressed with the consistency of my cadence and heart rate. Lots of rolling hills - I've been trying to go for consistency over long periods. I rode in the drops for the longest time too - have to keep that up.

One Big Loop

Just a simple loop ride yesterday morning. I'm not sure what my problem is, but I haven't wanted to get out of bed for the last few weeks it seems. Made myself get up and go for a small ride. Will have to go out this afternoon too - even though it's blistering hot.

Luton Park

Great ride tonight at Luton Park with Heath and Marty. I'm not sure what it was, but I wasn't terribly motivated to ride just hours before meeting up with them. In fact, I was downright crabby around work and the house. For some reason, being in this frame of mind must make me ride harder or something. I've never ridden Luton this fast and in fact we rode the Orange loop around again just for good measure. Great ride. Was even more fun riding with friends. Only wiped out once going up a tower of logs.

Double Hitter

Took the bike up to Luther, MI for Tent City hyginx this weekend. Knew we'd be going for a ride Thursday am to get a few random miles in, but was unaware that a secret (drunken) night ride Wednesday night would be necessary for me to crest 1000 miles on the year so far. Thursday morning ride was good - highest top speed ever on the mountain bike of 38. Not sure I had been able to get over 32 previously on this beast. One thing is for sure. Sand is bad. I hate sand.

Quickie

Had to get something in...anything. Been trying for 2 days now just to get on the bike, but there has been too much to do around the house. My plan was for a longer ride tonight, but I got a late start, so I just pedaled harder instead. I wasn't planning on going to Sand Lake tonight, but there was an accident there last night where a carney died by way of accidental electrocution, then a 38 foot fall to the ground when the ride he was dismantling called the Fire Ball (ironic) touched a live 4800 volt wire. I had to do a drive by to see if there was still any investigation scene going on at the park. Nothing. Oh well. On a high note I reached 28.7 mph on the way back (and not even maxed out). Had to let up a little at one point during the final sprint for I could tell this 10-12 year old girl didn't know what to do, whether to cut me off or hold her ground. She decided to cut me off. So I yelled at her as I wizzed past. I guess in her defense when a cyclist is coming at you near 29mph you had better make a decision quick - kids aren't smart, nor quick. She chose incorrectly. Everyone lived to tell about it, so.....fine. Just don't do it again.

High Pressure

Really needed to sleep in this morning, its been a very rough week - both because of work and personal reasons. I forced myself out of bed though - alarm went off at 4:40am and I was on the road around 5:20. I pumped the mountain bike tires up to max capacity (65psi) for road worthiness, however that turned out to be a disaster on the trails once I got to Luton Park. Things were slick on the trail and every single root or rock I hit seemed to almost send me flying off the trail. I rode everything but the black loop today. Crashed twice. Once on a quick downhill into a long left hand turn, high speed. Hit one of those slick layers of mud film, where you could tell there was a puddle previously. The bike just slid out from under me and I went sliding into second base once I got ejected off my bike. The other crash sucked, MARAVOLO was coming forth (because of slip-sliding and hitting obstacles I could not see) and as I approached a mud pit I tried to steer around it, the tire got jammed sideways, I hit the brake (mistake) and I endo-ed right over the mud. Not sure how I missed it actually. I got up like WTF and as I was headed off I whacked my head on a low log and almost fell down again. Couldn't wait to get back on the roads. Although, it sucks big time to  try and keep any sort of momentum on a mountain bike on paved roads. Ugh. Glad I pushed myself to get out. Needed to release some angst anyways. I'm knocking on 1000 total miles. Half way there.