What a Ride Today!

May 7, 2010,

Today was a special day on the bike. A lot happened. I left my home at 8:30 am and was going to do a long ride. I thought I would head south first, but got lazy and rode straight to Sandy Hook. My goal was to ride over a 100 miles today. From my home to the end of the Hook is 20 miles. When I got there I wanted to do several different loops on the Hook. This is what I did. 5 six and a half mile loops. Then I did 5 four mile loops. That gave me a total of 72 miles. Now I headed home. It is 20 miles to my home but I keep going all the way to Sea Girt which is another 22 miles round trip. As it turned out I rode 105 miles. That is the first part of the good day.

Today I came to peace with the wind. During the ride, I encountered the wind that first blew from the north. Than it changed to come from the west. Finally from mile 65 to 95 it was at least a 15 mph wind right in my face. The last 10 miles I had a tail wind and flew home. I have decided the wind is there why not be friends with it. When I rode into the wind, I just put my head down and peddled. If nothing else it will make me stronger but it will not defeat me. No more complaining about the wind.

Finally, I am starting to test what foods to eat while riding. Besides the gels and energy drink, I need to have regular food to put into my stomach. Today I had peanut butter on whole wheat. It was good, I needed it and it agreed with my stomach. I will keep trying different sandwiches as the rides get longer.

Great confidence builder today. If I had to go another 20 or 30 miles with the wind to my back, it would have been no problem.

Crunches:300
Push ups: 75

Total Distance: 105 miles
Total Time: 7 hours and 37 minutes (includes stops to go to the bathroom and eat)

Phil