The continuing countdown to 10,000

I took a nice little ride tonight. I headed up Post Drive to Pine Island and then headed west on 9 Mile. I kept picking my way north until I ended up on 12 Mile and started east. I then  turned south on Summit to head home. I avoided the White Pine Trail because it's Tuesday night and the Blues Series takes over the area by the dam in Rockford, including the WPT. I listened for a moment then went home basically by way of Childsdale and it's big hill. In fact there were lots of hills on this little route. But I felt good and moved closer to my mid-summer goal. Let's do the numbers.
23 - miles I rode tonight
507 - miles I've ridden this year
9,7000 - miles I've ridden on my Cannondale
The mid-July roll over to 10,000 is looking good. My baby is gonna get all spiffed up for that occasion.

Two days on the White Pine Trail

White Pine Trail near Belmont

What that headline means is that I rode for two consecutive days on the WPT, not two days continuously. Yesterday I didn't fell like riding. It was 90 something degrees and windy. But I hadn't ridden yet this week and I knew I had to get some miles in. So at 8:00 p.m. I headed north on the WPT for about 17 miles. The temperature, while not pleasant, was tolerable. At that hour of the evening the entire trail was in the shade. One of the advantages of living on the western edge of the Eastern Time Zone is that in the middle of June it is still light enough to ride without lights on your bike at 9:30 p.m.

Tonight I rode with a couple of my JDRF team mates. Cindy and Lindsey started up the trail from Riverside Park in Grand Rapids at 3:30 this afternoon. I didn't get out until 5:00. They rode all the way to Sand Lake and stopped for a beverage. I caught up with them in Sand Lake just as they started heading back. So we all rode together back to Belmont, where I split off the head home. A 36 mile ride for me, about 50 for them. It was much  more pleasant riding tonight. Temperatures were in the 70's and the humidity was considerably lower. Plus having two other riders meant a mini-paceline and some pretty fast speeds on the way south. I would say however, that my next ride will not be on the WPT.

Beautiful morning to ride

I got out early this morning, before the thermometer pushed into the 90's, to do a "fun" loop. It's either the punishment loop or the roller coaster loop depending on your fitness level. I headed east on Cannonsburg, then went south on Pettis and came back north on Egypt Valley. There is a lot of climbing on that route. Normally it's an 18 mile loop, but it was feeling more roller coastery today so I extended the ride. I continued north on Egypt Valley to Belding Road then turned west and headed south on Blakely. Which means I got to ride down 7 Mile hill. Much more fun than riding up it like I did on Tuesday. I hit 40 MPH on the way down. 22 miles in all which gives me just shy of 80 for the week.

Rolled over 9,600 miles today. Less than 400 miles to 10,000 on my Cannondale. At this rate I should hit that in July.

A great week to ride

It has been a great week to ride. I went out three times this week for a total of 55 miles. That's about right for my training for this time of year. Sunday's ride was the long one, 38 miles to Sand lake and back. Tuesday and Thursday were each between 13 and 14 miles but very different routes. Tuesday I rode solo tackling 7 Mile hill at the start and then heading north up Blakely to 9 Mile, then Meyers Lake to Kies, then back to the east and Courtland, past Rockford High School and home. Thursday Ian and I did a sprint ride. We took the White Pine Trail to Comstock Park and back. Pretty much never stopped pedaling except for a couple of short downhills on the West River Drive trail overpass. We ended up with 14 miles in 49 minutes. Not blazing speed, but not bad.

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Summer cycling means ice cream

It was pretty hot today but that didn't stop Mary, Ian and me from going out for a ride. However, with temperatures approaching 90 degrees we decided to ride smart. We picked a route that had no hills and the opportunity for a refreshment stop at the midway point. We traveled north along the White Pine Trail to Sand Lake. It's just short of 19 miles from our house. Our average speed was under 14 miles an hour, probably due to the heat and the almost indiscernible rise in the trail when riding north. When we got to Sand Lake we stopped at Rosie's for ice cream flurries. That's a great treat for a hot day, even if we weren't riding. When we finished the ice cream we headed south. We now had the slight decline of the trail and a fired up Ian. He pulled almost the entire way home at speeds of 18 to 22 mph. It was great fun as we kept our three person pace line together the entire way. Ian is becoming a very strong rider. He also just celebrated his 17th birthday on Friday. I can see him hanging with the elite riders on our team in very short time.

A Perfect Day

The weather was absolutely perfect for a bike ride yesterday. Luckily there was a JDRF team ride scheduled. So Mary and I joined about 25 of our team mates for the afternoon. We left from Eldean Shipyard on the south shore of Lake Macatawa and headed south to what's known as the Hutchens Lake loop. At the New Richmond bridge the team split into two groups. The short route group turned around at that point for what was a 30 mile distance. Our group continued on riding past Fenn Valley Winery and the villages of Saugatuck and Douglas. We ended up with just a shade over 43 miles in two hours and 45 minutes. That's a pretty good pace for a big group of varying abilities.

Mary, Steve and Brenda in New Richmond, about 16 miles into the ride.

After the ride we had a cookout at the shipyard, sat in the hot tub and relaxed in the sun. It was the perfect way to wrap up a great afternoon.