I felt as if I have been losing some ground as of late. Because of all the racing I have not had a chance to get good endurance rides in. With no races scheduled for the weekend it provided a great opportunity to get in a good lone ride. The weekend would be busy, however, with Jordan having a birthday sleep over Friday night and a family party in the twin cities on Saturday night. The best plan I could come up with was to bike from Hutchinson to Coon Rapids Saturday morning, making sure I arrived in plenty of time to help get things ready for the party. After helping with breakfast for 7 tired girls and vacuuming up sour skittles and nerds from the family room, I got on the bike by 10:00 AM only 1 hour later than expected. With two full water bottles, 3 power bars, trail mix, five dollars, credit card, tube and CO2 inflator I headed on my way.
The first part of the ride was fairly good, but I was pushing a slight headwind to keep me honest. About an hour and a half into the ride, I noticed that the rear wheel felt a little soft and sure enough I had punchered the rear tube. No big deal, I brought a spare tube and was taking the rear wheel off when Andrea and the kids pulled over to help out. Perfect timing, I quickly pumped up the tire and refilled the two water bottles and I headed on my way. The weather was nearly perfect, and despite many people commenting on how hot it was I found that as long as I kept riding at a moderate pace I stayed comfortable. Even though I had printed out directions and taped them to my stem, was still able to get lost because some people don't think it is necessary to put street signs up in their towns. I think it is some type of conspiracy to keep people from finding their way out of town.
A little before Delano I got passed by a group of three road bikers and followed them through town for a little while. I contemplated hooking up with their group and riding for a little while, but I wasn't sure if I was staying with my directions. I followed them out of town and as we stared heading north I knew that I wasn't on the correct road. It was, however, going the correct direction so I continued to tail the group for a while, but never felt the urge to push it to catch up with them. I have found that, in general, road bikers have very little to say to someone rinding a mountain bike on the road. After about 25 minutes they had put a sizable gap on me, while I continued to enjoy the journey. I later passed them in the next town as they stopped at a local gas station.
Anyway, after about 3 hours of "feeling" my way towards the northwestern part of the cites, I arrived in St. Michael. I was slightly familiar with the area and new that I was a little too far north, so I called Andrea to get me back on track. After a little thought she was able to guide me over interstate 94 and back to a rood listed on my directions. The last part of the ride I pushed it a little harder because the legs still felt fresh, averaging 20 mph.
Summary
Time: 4:10:54
Distance: 74.8 mi
Ave Speed: 18.0 mph
Ave HR: 155 bpm
The first part of the ride was fairly good, but I was pushing a slight headwind to keep me honest. About an hour and a half into the ride, I noticed that the rear wheel felt a little soft and sure enough I had punchered the rear tube. No big deal, I brought a spare tube and was taking the rear wheel off when Andrea and the kids pulled over to help out. Perfect timing, I quickly pumped up the tire and refilled the two water bottles and I headed on my way. The weather was nearly perfect, and despite many people commenting on how hot it was I found that as long as I kept riding at a moderate pace I stayed comfortable. Even though I had printed out directions and taped them to my stem, was still able to get lost because some people don't think it is necessary to put street signs up in their towns. I think it is some type of conspiracy to keep people from finding their way out of town.
A little before Delano I got passed by a group of three road bikers and followed them through town for a little while. I contemplated hooking up with their group and riding for a little while, but I wasn't sure if I was staying with my directions. I followed them out of town and as we stared heading north I knew that I wasn't on the correct road. It was, however, going the correct direction so I continued to tail the group for a while, but never felt the urge to push it to catch up with them. I have found that, in general, road bikers have very little to say to someone rinding a mountain bike on the road. After about 25 minutes they had put a sizable gap on me, while I continued to enjoy the journey. I later passed them in the next town as they stopped at a local gas station.
Anyway, after about 3 hours of "feeling" my way towards the northwestern part of the cites, I arrived in St. Michael. I was slightly familiar with the area and new that I was a little too far north, so I called Andrea to get me back on track. After a little thought she was able to guide me over interstate 94 and back to a rood listed on my directions. The last part of the ride I pushed it a little harder because the legs still felt fresh, averaging 20 mph.
Summary
Time: 4:10:54
Distance: 74.8 mi
Ave Speed: 18.0 mph
Ave HR: 155 bpm
1 comment:
Damn, you have a high heart rate, Matt. I can't believe that you do endurance at 155! Impressive! Roadies are a kind of a snobby bunch eh? Sad but true.
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