A wet ride

We hosted the JDRF West Michigan team ride on Sunday. I charted out 25 and 40 mile loops that went north from our house out to the park on 13 Mile and Algoma. A lot of climbing just to get to that point, which was only 13 miles into the ride. We also had quite a bit of rain. It was dry, but threatening, when we started. The rain came about 4 miles into the route. Luckily it only lasted for about half the ride.

Shortly after the park there was a short cut for those who wanted to take the 25 mile option. They headed south on the White Pine Trail, which is a net downhill. So that group missed the very hilly second half of the route. We took 13 Mile out to Myers Lake Road and started heading south. Then for the next several miles we went back east, then a little south, then west, then a little south, then east, then south, eventually winding up on Cannonsburg Road, right near the ski resort. The last major climb of the day was the one mile long slog up Blakley. The reward for all that climbing was a very zippy trip down 7 Mile hill. I logged my top speed of the year at 40.7 MPH. A couple of teammates topped 42.

The reason I mention all the climbing is we are trying to get prepared for the ride in Santa Fe this November. The baseline elevation there is 7,199 feet above level. The ride organizers tell us we'll have about 5,000 feet of climbing on the 100 mile route. Our 40 mile route on Sunday had just over 2,000 feet of climbing. That's on-par with what we'll be doing in Santa Fe, but at basically sea level. As someone once said, "The only way to get good at climbing hills, is to climb hills."

Spring Riding

Had a couple of nice rides this past week. We spent Memorial Day weekend, as we usually do, at the Hayes cottage on Paw Paw Lake. On Sunday we did our traditional ride around the lake with the whole group. That was only 13 miles and for the past six weeks Mary and I have ridden at least 20 miles on every Sunday. So while the rest of the group stopped when we returned to the cottage, Mary and I continued on and did a different loop heading through the farm land east of the lake. That route took us through the town of Watervliet. We ended up with a little over 21 miles in 90 degree temperatures.

Yesterday I went out to JDRF teammate Tom Miller's house in Grand Haven for his Thursday night ride.There were about 20 people there. I rode with the slow group. We did 22 miles at an average speed of 17 mph. That's a bit faster than I usually ride, but it was a good time. The fast group rode 29 miles and I'm not sure of their pace, but they pulled away from our group pretty easily about 5 miles into the ride.

Now that the weather has apparently warmed up for good, I'm hoping to get out at least three times a week. My goal for this year is 1,500 miles and because of our lousy Spring I'm behind pace to hit that goal.