Monday, May 30, 2011

Really good weekend of biking.

34 miles today. This means I exceeded my Memorial weekend goal by 12 miles. Today's ride was supposed to be a "recovery" ride, but the uphill sprints were just too temping. I was also really surprised at how I recovered from the other 118 miles. Trust me I felt the last 10 miles of my ride, and I was glad it was close to being done. Normally I sprint Heights Rd. all the way to my driveway (Mayer Ct.) but I just didn't have it in me. My weekend total is 152 miles.

Oh I almost forgot about the big group of Harley Riders on Lake George Road that were riding along side of us cheering us on. One dude said "Man you are making me tired" as he was doing a peddling motion with his legs. It was cool to be able to cruise along side them for almost 3/4 mile.

YTD distance at 1620.25 miles.

62 miles Yesterday. Total so far this weekend is 118 miles.

2011-05-29 (Sunday): Yesterday was a lot of Paint Creek Trail, Macomb Orchard Trail, back roads and scary and fast 32 mile road. Then I went through Predmore to Stony Creek Rd. to get to Orion, the Kern then back on Paint Creek Trail through town and home. Yesterday was mostly a concentration of high cadence peddling and maintaining a persistent tempo, except when we got lost. 62 miles yesterday. 118 total miles so far this weekend... The last 11 miles were a little tough, but I feel like I have recovered enough for a little more. I am about to do another 30 to 35 miles today.

YTD distance (as of 9:30am): 1586.25 miles.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Did just under 57 miles today. 89 more miles to go before Monday night.

If I am to hit my 140 mile goal for Memorial weekend I need another 84 miles. I just did 56+ miles today. So I will make it 89 miles to get in an extra 5 mile bonus. The first 10 miles were moderate pace to get the legs loosened up and the blood flowing. My legs were still sore from my leg workout at the gym Thursday morning. Once we got going we upped the pace a bit, we even did all the hills of Delano, Brocker, Big Fish, Fox Lake and Drahner Roads. I did something a bit different this time... I did extra miles after Pauly headed home.
YTD Distance 1524.25 miles.

NOTE: A bit sore, consuming extra amounts of protein for recovery.

Friday, May 27, 2011

140 miles this weekend?

I hope to get in some good rides this weekend. Sure I can't seem to find the time for a "Hundo" for a Saturday morning... or can I? I will try to get in AT LEAST 50 miles Saturday, then 50 Sunday and 40+ Monday.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

a quick 28.1 mile ride tonight

Here is a link to the directions for today's ride.

YTD distance: 1468.25 miles.

a moderate weekend of riding...

Did mostly a combination of back-roads and Stony Creek.

30 miles on Saturday and 30+ miles on Sunday.

YTD distance: 1440.15 miles.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

No bragging

2011-05-14 (Saturday): I am not going to brag about my 1st place in the Men 30-39 class of the Stony Creek 6 hour race. Why should I? It had a great turn out despite the rain and mud, but those who did not do this race did the Tailwind Brighton Stage Race (USAC). I will tell you that I did all my laps with just enough time to switch out water bottles and even trade bikes in the 5th and 6th laps. By the 6th lap I realized that not going to the bathroom before the race started because I really had to go. So every once in a while I will slow down expecting to go of the path to go... then I would see hikers or racers catching up... after a few times I decided I had better just keep going. When I finished my 6th lap I just missed the chance to do my 7th lap by just 40 seconds. I beat 2nd place guy by about 1/2 hour and 3rd place by one whole lap. I completed 61.2 miles in 5 hours and 29 minutes.

2011-05-19 (Thursday): Did a medium to easy 20 miles with Pauly... we did Markwood 2 times... that hill seems easier at times... and others times I feel faster. 20+ miles today.

YTD Distance: 1380.15 miles.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

PLAYING CATCH UP


Ok time to play "catch-up" not only with my blog entries but with other racers and getting back to where I was last year before Iceman. I have been feeling slow lately and I know I can be faster. The Gravel Grinder 100k back road ride was around the last time I felt strong.... then I kinda went down hill from there on out.

2011-05-04 (Wednesday): I did 2 laps at the Lake Orion High School trail. The first lap was moderate and the second lap was much faster as I was riding with a fast teammate. These were 6 mile laps, I felt totally spent halfway into the second lap. 12 miles total.

2011-05-05 (Thursday): This was the first race at Lake Orion HS Trail (6 race series) about 10 miles which includes 1.5 laps. I felt worse than I did the day before.

2011-05-07 (Saturday): This was all bike riding with bikes that did not belong to me. I went to the Island Lake Bike Demo. ( did 2.4 laps with the first lap using an 2011 Epic 29'er and the second lap with an 2011 Epic 29'er Evo which was an awesome experience. I rode fast, I felt fast. 30+ miles.

2011-05-08 (Sunday): I did 2 6 mile laps at a moderate pace at the Lake Orion High School trail... I took Kristhal along with me. 12 miles total.

2011-05-11 (Wednesday): Today was the second race at Lake Orion HS Trail (6 race series). This was a 1.6 mile short track course. The Advanced Classes did 7 laps. I felt strong the first 4 laps, then I started to slack off on the remain laps. I had trouble keeping track of my laps so I thought I had more laps than I did. Of course thinking I had more race only encouraged me to not race at a pace I should have. Upon finishing my last lap it was at the last 70 yards I realized I should have been sprinting.... oops too late. I got 4th place. 11.2 total miles. I hope I am A LOT stronger in June!

YTD distance 1298.95 miles.

Next race is the 6 & 12 hour race at Stony Creek on Saturday.... I am doing the 6 hour race.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

78.75 miles for the weekend.

2011-04-30 (Saturday): The Gravel Grinder (100k) ride was this weekend. I actually thought the ride would have been slightly more difficult since I have not done any 60+ mile rides this year. It was not as tough and I felt much stronger than normal. I was in the fastest group (or gang) of 7 riders. Dan Klein, Craig Morris Paul Bailey, Kurt Vogt and others... Kurt being young had some great speed on the sharper climbs and while at times I was leading the group other times I fell behind by as much as 50 yards. It was about 18 to 20 miles in that I started to feel stronger as if I got a "second wind". There was one Single speed guy with us for a while (I forget his name, but he wore a Specialized Jersey), but at about 22 miles or so in he kinda fell back a bit. After awhile I didn't see any sign of him. We got to Lake George Road quicker than I thought we would and at that point I was at the front with Pauly, he was strong the whole time. We got to the Subdivision to have some sandwiches and water bottle refills...etc etc... after eating one sandwich I was ready to rock... (we were just a about half way done). Pauly and I took off expecting the others to follow, but they did not leave when we did so we started off slow and kept looking back... after about 20 minutes we decided to pick up the speed and even made it a goal to be done before the others. We hit some great climbs on the way back to and it was on Brocker Rd. I felt fast.... I even raced Pauly up many of the hills... but every once and a while we would look back to see if anyone was catching up with us... at this point I was kinda bummed that no was was catching us. The most difficult part of the ride was the paved road through Waterstone area that got to me... the wind was strong and at that point I was not quite as strong. When we got to the parking lot We saw a couple people finishing the 50K ride... including Kurt who I thought for sure was going to do the 100k. We waited around until the other guys in our group arrived then Pauly and I rode to his house.... then he gave me a ride home... 65 miles total.... that was enough for the day.

UPDATE: I felt completely recovered with 20 minutes after the ride.

2011-05-01 (Sunday): Rode out to the Paint Creek Trail today as Kristhal drove there to get a head start. We were to meet Pauly for what would be a recovery ride for Pauly and I but a coaching session for Kristhal. I started from the house and arrived at the trail head I expected to catch up with them, but Kristhal must have been moving along pretty good. I was surprised at how fast she was going. Arrived at Dutton Rd for a few "ups & downs".. rode back with Kristhal. Thanks to Pauly for working with Kristhal coaching her on her first ever Dutton Road climb... Total ride for the day (for me) was 13.75 miles.

UPDATE: I ate only 4 pancakes then no lunch for this recovery ride.... but had a huge protein shake right after the ride.

YTD TOTAL: 1223.75 miles