Sunday - June 30, 2013
Long, Slow Distance Bike Ride
I was able to sneak out for a bike ride while the kids took their nap after lunch. With about 3-4 hours on my hands, I headed out for a 60 mile ride. I figured I could go at an easy speed of 15mph and do the 60 miles in 4 hours. I parked in Milford, next to 126 (near Indian Hill Road, kind of) and there were tons of people out. The parking lot only had two empty spots, though it's not a huge lot. I took the aero bars off a while ago, had two Gatorade bottles (Grape flavored low calorie G2), and a couple PowerBars in my jersey. I put Rancid's ...And Out Come The Wolves album on repeat. I'm not sure why I love this so much. Before last week, I haven't heard it since high school.
I set out around 15-16mph, which is actually pretty slow to bikers. 15-16 is usually a slow group, 17-18 is usually a moderate group, and 20+ is usually a fast group. Just a side note. Like I mentioned, there were a lot of people on the bike trail. The weather Sunday around 1pm was perfect, so I'm not surprised a lot of people were out. That being said, they're not exactly "bike friendly". People were stopped and talking in the middle of the path. People walking their dogs with the leash pulled across the trail, like a trip wire. Guess what happens to your little dog if I hit that leash at 15 mph? Or worse, little kids riding their bikes 5mph, swerving all over the path. I'm actually a very passive everything - I have lost my temper in public once or twice ever. So, I don't get fired up about these bike path "hazards". I just slow down and go around them. No big deal. I'm just out for an easy 60 miler, nothing to get uptight about.
I headed northeast from Milford, toward Loveland. Loveland came after about 9 miles. I had Strava running on my iPhone, in my jersey, and I had my Garmin 210 on my wrist. So, I actually didn't know how fast I was going during the entire ride. The watch only shows min/mile paces. I'm not good at converting 3:25mm into miles per hour speed, so I had no idea what my speed was. I took off my CatEye. This "blind" ride was kind of nice. I just went at an easy pace, not worrying about anything.
Loveland came and went. I decided to save my PowerBars for the turn around point, after 30 miles. My plan was simply to ride 30 miles up and then 30 miles back. My longest bike ride ever was last summer, when I rode 59 miles with the GE Flyers. That ride hurt a lot. There were several points where I was about to stop and call my wife to pick me up. But the group urged me on with lots of great enthusiasm and encouragement. They're a great group, but way too good for me last summer - even now. They're not triathletes, they're hardcore cyclists. They don't have to split their time between swimming, biking, and running. They just bike and are rockstars. Also, that GE ride came out of no where. I didn't ramp up my bike mileage and originally the plan was to just do 35. But we got lost and everyone kept saying, "Hey, let's keep going!" Since I've been biking for a few weeks on a regular basis, and no longer getting sore unless I'm really pushing it, I thought 60 easy miles should be no big deal.
I went past South Lebanon, Morrow, and Fort Ancient. It's always cool going by the Morgan's Little Miami Triathlon course, near Fort Ancient. I made it to Oregonia, not really sure where that is, and hit 30 miles. I was feeling fine. I ate my two PowerBars and drank some G2. But, I was getting low on fluid and I didn't bring any money. Oops! I sweat a lot and drink a lot, so a 3rd bottle of G2 or water would have been nice. As luck would have it, in Morrow there was an ice cream place next to the trail that had a giant water station out front. Not only was it full of water, but it was very cold and tasted great. I filled one bottle with water and still had about half a G2 left. I pushed on. I knew if I could make it to Loveland, Nisbet Park has a water fountain I could fill up with to cover my last 10 miles. So, I just had about 10/15 miles to make it. I tried to ration the fluid, and still ran out a few miles before Nisbet. But I filled up at Nisbet and cruised on.
Nisbet is a great place to see other bikers and local Loveland people out to enjoy the weather. Up to this point, I had only been passed by one biker all day. I had gone about 50 miles, passed at least 100 people (not kidding), but only been passed by one guy. He was moving though. Surprising, because I was going so slow. But most people out were just casual, not even wearing tights. Most serious bikers ride on the roads as they're less crowded, smoother, and more open with hills and wind and just a more interesting route. Between Nisbet and Milford I hit 56 miles - the distance you bike in a half Ironman triathlon. I covered the 56 miles in 3:45:00 almost exactly, and kept rolling. Maybe I was pumped up, but those last 4 miles felt very fast and easy. I got to my car around 4:00:00 and felt solid. If I trusted leaving my bike at my car, which I don't, I could have gone for a run. I burned about 1500 calories, though Strava says 1700. I rewarded myself on the way home with a UDF large chocolate milk shake. I almost ordered the giant, but thought I better behave. Delicious! I could do this everyday.
I joined the June Strava bike challenge and covered 305km, ranking me 55,619 out of 85,267 overall, about 65%. I'm competing with professionals and unemployed guys, so it's hard to compare. Imagine a 20 year old, who is home from college for the summer, and has nothing to do but bike 5 hours a day. I can't compete with that. That would be a nice vacation! Just riding (or running or swimming) all day, each day.
It's Tuesday night now as I type this, and the 60 mile bike ride didn't really beat me up too much. Next time, I'll take money and get a snack in Morrow at a gas station or that ice cream shop, but I think I could do 75 without too much drama. At what point do I stop and chill out? I actually found some articles on something called "Triathlon Widow", where the one spouse obsesses over triathlon and trains way too much. I hope I'm not going down that rabbit hole.
I have July 5th off work, my wife works, and the kid's school is open. So, I'll take the kids to school and have a day to myself. What should I do? Maybe I'll go for a long run or bike ride? Not sure. I might see that new Superman movie, since my wife doesn't really like those kinds of things. Should be fun.
Here's the Strava data from the 60 mile ride:
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