Yesterday I did what I've been talking half-heartedly about for a while now - rode from Rochester to the 'rent's house. It was just shy of 60 miles, my first 50+ ride since August of 2005. I set out with the mindset of taking it slow and easy so I could finish, calculating that it would take about 4 hours. Well, as soon as I got out of the city and started heading southeast, the wind at my back, the slow and steady went by the roadside. I was in the upper teens, low 20s from about mile 15 to mile 45 - raising my average mph to 17.7. I hoped to hold this pace to the end but the lactic acid buildup. threatening cramping sensations and the arrival of hills pushed this goal to the roadside as well. I ended at 3 hours, 24 min and av'd 17.4 mph, not too bad in my opinion. The parents were surprised to see my - "uh-oh, it looks like you rode your bike" (Mom) "what, gas is that expensive?" (Dad). The lactic acid buildup was really bad at the end but I anticipate if I do this often enough, I will raise the threshold so it won't burn so much. Aside from stopping to answer nature's call outside Victor and for a few stop lights, it was a continuous ride. There was quite a bit of "you're almost there, don't stop now" and "I will not cramp now, just keep spinning" toward the end... and unfortunately, no pictures. Overall, a beautiful experience on a beautiful day for such a ride.
I had also fleeting ideas of riding back but Kev was at his parent's so he picked me up on his way back to Rochester.
I had originally wanted to explore Letchworth's FLT trail section (open to mountain biking) but saw a post on the WNYBA website that it wasn't suitable for riding after all of the rain we experienced recently. Didn't want to be the one ruining it for everyone else so I opted for the pavement. The ride is to serve as my training for the sport class Raccoon Rally mountain bike race next Sunday.
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