Even Longer Ride & More Elevation

Well it's Monday morning and we don't have to go to work yippee! We decided to take a couple extra days off and extend this we can out to a five day weekend from a three-day weekend.

So far the weekend has been really nice and it's been great hanging out at home and doing other things throughout the days. Yesterday was much less adventurous compared to the other days because we pretty much stayed home and hung out all day not doing anything major other than some laundry and that type of stuff.

I was going to go for a bike ride last night around 6:30 or 7 PM but decided that I would give my body a break for a full day. Probably in my best interest after the grueling ride that I had on Saturday. That ride is still in my mind and I think about it often. I am not sure if that is a good thing, or a bad thing? In my mind though I am confident it's a good thing.

Darn Back

Well yesterday I was taking a quick shower and ended up twisting "just right" as I was getting out and gave myself a pinch in the middle of my back. It's mostly located on the left-side middle, so it's not debilitating or anything it's just one of those nagging pains that you wish you did not have.

More than likely it's from carrying that Camelbak for 3 hours during my Saturday ride. That thing was really heavy for some reason this time. At first I thought it was because of the extra water that I had but if so it would have gotten lighter as the ride went on but it didn't ever seem to get lighter if anything it felt like it continued to get heavier but I think that is because I was getting weaker.

I am still planning to go for a ride today and hopefully my back will hold up. I need to get my ass out there before the day gets too hot otherwise it will be miserable and be Saturday's ride all over again. I'm not taking the mountain bike out, instead the road bike is what's on the menu for today.

Ride

So today marks the start of a new week obviously and I need to put a goal into my Strava again. I think I am going to do 50 miles for this week just like I did last week. If I do today's ride to completion that means I will have 20 miles under my belt already. Really it depends if my back will hold-up or not. I think it will be okay but we will see.

Mostly today it will be up and around the neighborhoods on this side of the highway. Then I will head over to the other side of the highway in those neighborhoods that go up the mountain. It will be a really good ride but challenging as well. Actually I will probably do this side first and then the other side.

The Ride

So I ended up going on my ride today like I had hoped I would be able to. I was going to be satisfied doing 20 miles because of my sore back, the heat of the day and still a little tired from Saturdays ride on the mountain bike.

I am ECSTATIC to report that not only did I get the ride in, I managed to do 31.5 miles and over 1,100 feet of elevation change climbing. I know it probably does not sound like a lot to a seasoned veteran but for me it's a huge accomplishment! My legs are beat from the ride. I can't imagine how some of those guys online, friends as well as the pros ride hundreds of miles at once. I would like to be able to do a 100 mile ride once but I don't know if I could pull it off. If it were fairly flat it would not be too bad, otherwise I don't think I could make it at this point in my bike fitness.

Anyway, great day all around as far as that goes. Because of the ride I am now only 20 miles away from meeting my weekly goal of 50 miles. So this week will be an easier one. Other weeks, not so much because if work and being tired. It will be interesting this winter to see how much I am able to ride compared to summer. Maybe an inside trainer will be the solution. I will have to look into those when the time comes. I think it's suggested to get a trainer tire as well so the good street tire does not get worn out from the trainer wheel.

Sundown

Alright that will do it for today. Time to relax and take a breather for a few hours, surf the internet and maybe watch some TV or something. Tomorrow is the last day of our extended weekend - lame! But we plan to take a few more days towards the end of the month. I have school next week again and will be glad to be done with this program - unfortunately it won't be over until the week before Thanksgiving.

Photo: Yep, we were bad this morning and had McDonald's for breakfast. I was out of coffee and was not going to ask Cicely to run to the store when she was in the middle of projects. No matter I had a relatively low calorie and safe choice meal.