Sunday in June Update

Woke up Sunday morning with a sore back and calves from my busy Saturday of aerobics, cleaning the house & car, and a host of other chores that needed done. I guess my plan for taking it easy Saturday just ended up utilizing other muscles that I typically do not use! My cold was quite a bit better but still blowing my nose...darn as if it doesn't run enough normally on the bike!

I grabbed some water and a Clif Bar and was off to Burton for the start of the ride about 7 miles up the street. I had debated quite awhile whether I should just ride my bike there, but I figured that I may not be happy with that decision when I had to ride home so I opted for the car.

Upon arrival, I grabbed my packet and saw several other Clev Tri Club members and Su who apparently was back in town for the weekend. The weather was actually sunny and a cool 55. After some debate and figuring it would warm up a little bit I opted to just wear my tri top (though most others had long-sleeves on) which was a good idea. I was only cold for about 5 minutes and comfortable the rest of the morning!

The ride seemed very leisurely in its nature in that there really did not seem to be an official start and people just kind of went off as they were ready. This made for a nice spread out start where there were not all kinds of people in a large group at the beginning. Jodi, another CTC member and I, rode the entire course together. We went out of Burton down a nice hill which chilled me a bit and then we started to get into a nice rhythm. We kept a steady pace, good conversation, and the miles just flew by.

Not too far into the course I hit some decent sized potholes and my gatorade went sailing. Thankfully it was a cool morning and Jodi let me have one of her bottles--what a lifesaver!! We rode out of Burton into Middlefield, past my house in Parkman and did not need to stop at the food/aid station that they had set up there at the park. We continued on through Garrettsville and in to Nelson. I was excited to hit the hill in Nelson which Jodi and I had climbed half of the previous week which we would get to ride down the entire monster. As I sailed down I chanced a look down and read 43!!! and I had to take a second look...43 still!! Woohoo--new top speed which blew my 37 out of the water!

As we progressed along the course people were occasionally stopped to take random pictures of the Amish, the animals, or the cars racing at the Nelson Road Course. It was a nice course with much to see...until the gravel road. What? Why would they send us down this road? We slowed down as there were some thick areas of gravel and we were nervous about wiping out or getting a flat. First time riding on that surface for both of us, but we managed to make it through with no problems.

As we approached Parkman the second time we still felt good and did not need to stop at the aid station but we dropped a block down to stop at my house to use the rest room. Heck that was nice as the port-o-potties had lines and I so would prefer the bathrooms at my house. After some brief re-fueling we were back off for the last 13 miles. As we headed back north the winds picked up quite a bit. We pushed on and before long we were riding up the big hill at the end of the course passing all the people walking up with their bicycles. 62 miles down in a total of 3 hours 50 minutes (including stops) which would average out to 16.2 mph. Not bad! We passed many people out there on the course and were only passed by a couple females. I felt strong the entire ride and encountered no major issues. My back was sore but I think a lot of that was due to the fact that I was sore before I started the day! So all and all, a great ride which I think was due in large part too my great company..thanks Jodi!

After the ride we met up with two other CTC peeps, Matt and Brooks and we headed to Blazing Bills for beer and a burger. What a great way to wrap up a great morning!

New long ride, new top speed...things are going good!

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In the hopes of attempting to track my workouts better, I am going to try to log them daily.
Thursday-painful lunch time run of slow 4 miles--cold kicking my butt
Friday-rest
Saturday -75 minutes aerobics
Sunday- 62 miles biked-3 h 50 m-16.2mph
Monday - Lunch time run 4.5 miles half on grass / half sidewalks 38:39 (8:35/M). Despite sore legs felt extremely good and better than usual.