7.5 miles

Finished the week with a 7.5-mile morning ride in 30 minutes (14.9 mph avg), to bring me up 3 miles past last week's total. 26 miles and change this week, and tomorrow starts with a 20-mile ride with Dad I can't get out of.

Next week will be tough to get miles in though, as I have to go to KC Tues-Wed, and I'm going to Auburn, Ind., Fri-Sat. Getting that 20 in on Sunday will be good, and I'll have to be disciplined enough to get morning rides in on Mon-Th-Fri so I don't lazy out of 'em.

After work

Did not want to ride this morning. Did not want to ride at lunch. Did not want to ride this evening.

But ...

Once I got my butt in gear (with help) and pedaling tonight, I lapped my fastest times yet. 6.1 miles at an average of 14.2 mph.

It feels pretty good.

8-mile

I seem to rarely do the same ride two days in a row. There are enough country roads and little shortcuts around here to make any regular ride a bit longer or shorter on a whim. I think that's a benefit to keeping my mind occupied during the ride and keep my body from adjusting to any kind of regular plateau.

Today was a slightly modified noon ride that got me to 8 miles on the nose, in just over 35 minutes. I've got a nice sweat going now, so I'll get a quick shower and light lunch and back to work with a renewed vigor.

Today's workouts also include 30 minutes of yoga/stretching this morning and an hour of karate yet to go tonight.

And I forgot to mention yesterday that after 8 days away from the scale, I recorded a 2.9-lbs. loss. Huzzah -

I'm back

A quick road trip to Ohio for a long weekend, and now back on it. Did a short 4.8-mile ride this morning and got back about 5 minutes before the rain started, and 10 minutes ahead of the lightning.

Looking at my past rides this month, it looks like I'm getting into a groove where I average about 13.5+ mph. I've been told that 10-12 mph is a leisure ride, and 12-14 is a workout, 14-16 is a strong workout and above 16 mph is getting into "really booking."

With rides like this morning, when I head out before breakfast, I wonder how long/hard I need to pedal before my body starts burning fat for fuel...

Evening sweat

I didn't ride yesterday -- my legs were still protesting a bit from the long Sunday ride and I gave in. (I did still get a good sweat at karate last night though.)

This morning I didn't get out, then I did errands at lunch. By the time I walked away from my desk I did not want to ride tonight. I sat down and started berating myself for not riding until I bullied myself into one. It turned out to be a good one. Seven miles at a good 14 mph pace. Now I've got a good sweat going and I feel much better.

I might even smile.

juiced

Today I planned to go for a nice long ride, but I felt worn out after about 10 miles. I stopped to take a rest, then wound my way home over about another 6 miles. All told, it was about 16.5 miles in 1h 15m of actual saddle time, which doesn't seem terrible.

Lesson learned though, that I should maybe bring a couple fig newtons anytime I plan on a long ride. Not a lot of convenience stores in the middle of nowhere, which actually would be quite convenient.

I guess I'm not quite ready for a 50-mile Sunday pleasure ride.

meh

A very short 3.5-mile ride this morning. My knee was aching when I woke up (I tweaked it slightly at karate last night). Maybe I'll go out for another ride at lunch. I will be getting some walking and stair climbing tonight at the Brewers game. I'll have to watch my caloric intake though. It's easy to skip the beers available there, but the food is another matter.

Noon 2

Another lunchtime quick ride today. Just under 5 miles in about 21 minutes. Enough to get a good sweat going and launch my productivity for this afternoon.

Nooner

No enthusiasm to ride right away today, so I started with a half-hour of yoga and stretching with Wii Fit.

Then I looked longingly all morning at my Trek next to my desk, waiting to ride at lunch. Did a quick 6.25-mile up-and-back ride. It took 26 minutes and change, and I hit a new top speed at 26.7 mph. That feels a lot faster when it is self-powered.

Huffing and puffing

I'm disappointed (not surprised, just disappointed) that I've lost so much cardio endurance in just a week away. Well, 10 days actually from my last ride due to the bike's time in the shop. But as hard as I had to keep breathing throughout the quick ride this morning, I could tell my legs hadn't lost much as far as consistently pedaling.

So, according to the new CatEye computer, I reached a high of 23.8 mph, averaged 11.1 mph and went 4.01 miles in 20:51. Now that I can track cadence, I tried to keep my cadence around 90 (a number I've found recommended several times for beginner bike training). Watching the cadence actually affected my riding a lot, as I had to upshift more on the downhills to keep up, and downshift (way more) on the uphills to keep pace.

It felt great to be riding again after the short break.

Back in the saddle - tomorrow

Picked my Trek back up today, looking very much forward to going for a ride again tomorrow. It was a long week without.

And now the bike has a computer to track my cadence, mph, distance, etc.; it will be so much more fun. And hydrating with the new water bottle won't hurt either.

A week without biking

Day three without riding. Ugh. I really miss it. I have been walking each day and doing stretching and some exercise, and eating even better (better choices, more vegetables, smaller portion sizes overall).

When I do get back, the bike will have been through its post-break-in re-adjustments where it is receiving a computer so I can better track my miles, time and especially cadence while riding. Definitely looking forward to that.

Not likely to post again until I'm home and get to take a ride out again.