Happy 4th & The Longest Ride

First things first - I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July and hope you are spending it with those that you want to spend it with!

Also to all if you on the internet that are stoked because America is now 2014 years old are driving me crazy! Please stop posting that and making us look like idiots in this country, please!

Go back to your history books, look up when the country was founded and subtract the current year. Post that and I think the majority of us in this country will be thankful and not ashamed by our youth and lack of education or worse, the lack of Googling skills!

Crap! No Lights....

So last night I ended up farting around a little too long on the internet after we got home from work. Really though my excuse is that we were let out of work 1/2 day and because of that Cicely, Zoey and I went to Indian for lunch. We have not had it in a few months and were both craving it so it worked out great.

The problem is that it's very rich and filling even if you don't eat a ton you feel as though you did, at least I do anyway. We generally get the buffet because it's the best deal with the most options and generally the same options so there is no chance you will go on a day they have mostly things you may not care for.

Anyway between the heat and being full of Indian cuisine I was lazy, tired and unmotivated. Still by body was raring to get out and ride. I eventually loaded up the "route builder" on Garmin instead if doing it on Strava as I usually do. Strava was being buggy as hell and pissing me off so I gave up. Usually it is great and no problems, not yesterday.

I setup a route, just over 13 miles and headed out. All said Nd done it was a really good ride except for the fact that I did not calculate how early it would get dark. I knew I would be cutting it close but in the end I was doing the last few miles in total dark. Not a good thing at all because I do not have a front light. I have one small light on the back of my helmet but that is it.

So to be safe when approaching intersections with cars I would stand and make myself obvious so they would see me on the road. Thankfully I had all nice drivers and did not have any issues and made it back home safe and sound.

I should also mention that it really suck when the sun goes down because all of the sprinklers in the common areas of the neighborhood come on, most of which hit the bike lane. So I either get sprayed (not always a bad thing when it's hot out) or I am kicking up water. Worst thing is I lose traction but it's such a quick run through of puddles on a straight area of the ride that it's a non-issue really.

The next thing are the bugs, those dam bugs! No idea what they are, I assume gnats or something? They hit you in the face, eyes and mouth. So far I have not swallowed one and would like it to stay that way, but have had them stuck in my eyelid and had to get them out while riding along - not fun.

Once home I was really happy with the ride and my performance during it. The initial climbs still kick my ass and require me to rest at the top but I really don't care. For me it's not a race, I simply want to improve - maybe then one day it will be a race trying to beat my personal best times in various areas.

Going Long

So as I write today's entry I am getting ready to go on one of my longest rides yet. It will work out to be just over 1/3 of a century ride if I am able to accomplish the entire route. I know that I can, but not only is it long, it has double the amount of climbing I normally do and is in weather that will be 10 to 20 degrees hotter than I usually ride in lately.

Whether I make it or not I will of course finish out today's entry reflecting back on how it went so I can remember and grow from the experience.

I am also a little nervous because it's a holiday and holiday weekend so there is bound to be a ton of people out on the roads. I have to cross several major streets and a highway twice, something I am not use to doing. Normally I try to keep the routes more subdivision located for safety and traffic reasons. Problem is, it's very hard to go further than 15 miles or so this way unless I repeat a lot of the same areas. That is fine actually, but some variation does make the journey more interesting.

Anyway, we will see how it goes. If for some reason the heat kicks my ass and my legs can't take it because of yesterday's ride then I will be smart and cut I short. There is always next time and I would rather play on the safe side rather than get hurt and be out of commission for days or weeks recovering.

More on all of this later today as I mentioned. I sure hope I am able to make it, would be very cool and a huge achievement for me personally. I know the seasoned rider uses this as a warm-up and that is OK because if I keep at it, I too will do that one day.

Awesome Ride

So I am actually a little short on time as I waited until later in the evening to wrap up the post. Based on the title of this paragraph I am sure you have figured out by now that I did in fact make it around the entire loop / route that I have since coined my "Half Century Training" ride. Don't know if I could do a 1/2 century or not to be honest, I was pretty spent after this ride today of 30 miles so I guess I could push on another 20.

Not going to lie, it would not be easy, at least based on my skills and strengths on the bike at this point but I feel that they are increasing at a good pace and that I just need to keep up with the riding and workouts I get from them. I also managed to get my highest level of climbing in today which is good. Climbing is something I am always working on improving and its not that hard to not do around my area because every direction you go you are going to have to climb something.

Anyway, so I did in fact make it although it was not without problems. Nothing major like a tire going out or me wrecking on the bike or something. But after the first 12 miles or so I had finished this big climb the one that I do almost every ride and I was in desperate need of a quick break. Both for my legs and so that I could stretch a little.

When stopped the Garmin has a really cool feature that auto-pauses the device. It's super helpful so the times are accurate to the actual riding time on the bike. Well long story short, when I got back on the bike I tapped the screen and hit "start" - or did I? No, no I did not - I actually put it into "stop" mode, which is identified by a red border around the screen. Think I noticed this? Nope, and the fact that it was suddenly not giving me my turn-by-turn directions? Nope did not notice that either.

OK well that is partially a lie because I did in fact notice it and get it working again, unfortunately this took place about 8-10 miles away from the last point that it had paused - Nooo! This would mean that I would not have my ride saved correctly on the Garmin nor would I be able to save and upload my biggest ride to date. Yea you could say that I was a little pissed off at that moment.

Thankfully I had decided to once again turn on my Runtastic road bike application on my iPhone and it recorded the ride - thank you, thank you! Even though it is not as accurate because of the GPS and I did not pull it out to pause it every other break - the overall time for the ride will be off. That is OK with me to be blunt. I would rather have the ride data - I know that my times will be slow, hell its a new route and has more hills and the highest ascent for me yet.

Anyway, I guess my point is that the crisis was averted thankfully! I did have some other issues with the Garmin when leaving for the ride. It kept wanting me to make a frigging U-Turn because it thought I was off course. I was not, but it gets mixed up I think if a loop overlaps a loop - and that is exactly what I was doing - heck it's the only way to get the mileage I am after and make it so the ride is exciting vs. simply peddling around.

So all in all a great day for a ride and I am very happy now that it's over. I mean, not because its over, but because its over and I was able to succeed! Now its on to what ever loop I decide to take on next. I have one I am eying that was already made by a local bike shop - they use it for their group bike rides. Well there are many rides but the problem is that its nearly 40 miles I think and that may be the straw that breaks my back. On the other-hand, I will never know unless I try right?

I hope that your 4th of July has been a great one. Mine has and I think Cicely has had a good day of resting up as well - she needs as much rest s she can get to be honest! So with that, that will be all for me for the day - until tomorrow!

Photo: This is the view from one of the places that I stopped to eat a few (3) of my margarita with salt energy bloks (hey gotta have fun everywhere you can) as well as then guzzle some of my water that was nice and icy cold. I froze one of the bottles so it would stay cold longer while in the holder on the bike and being out in the hot sun (93 out today). Worked out great, anyway enough babbling out of me, here is the photo for today.