Sunday, May 30, 2010

Weekly recap

Well time to round up the week.

Rode Monday night. Nice easy ride 22 miles.

Tuesday I took off.

Wednesday was the Monthly TT. Almost thought it wasn't going to happen. Had some heavy thunderstorms move thru right before we started. We started late but we did start. The wind was ready strange. Was in your face just a bit on the southbound leg. On the way back it was more in your face. never really got a tail wind.

I ended up with a 18.75 average. A little slower than last month. But I am not down about it. I feel that this was my best effort yet. I was at 18.1 at the turn and had to wait on traffic to turn. Even with a slight headwind I gained time on the way back in. Not as much as I would have liked but I did gain time with the wind on my face. Also my time was 39:22. 20 seconds slower than last month. Not to worry. You can't always set personal best.

Had a great ride on Thursday. Had a great 1st section of the ride. I hung in on the front pack for 7-8 miles. We were going from 22-25 mph. Still can't keep that up for long yet. But I will get there. Ended up with 27 miles though.

Didn't ride on Friday. Went to the meet and greet for my class reunion. (20 years, scary to think about that!! lol)

Was going to ride with Ron Saturday night but some heavy weather blew in again.

This morning did a ride to the Gibbstown bridge and back. Rode with Mike G. and John V. They are both really strong riders. They pulled for me in the wind and really help me make this one of my all time best efforts. We did 52 miles at a 18.2 avg.

Personal mileage Challenge.

2100 miles needed.

Total miles for the year 1960

Miles behind 140

For the month of my so far I have rode 569 miles. This week was a light one, only 4 rides for 117 miles.

I am planning on riding tomorrow. I am hoping to get the 31 miles that I am short of making the 600 mile mark for this month. If I do get there it will be great. If I don't? No big deal. Just have to work harder next month!!!

Well enough for now.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Weekly Recap

Oh what a week!

Monday was an off day. That was a good thing. We had some heavy rain came thru that would have made a ride a bad deal.

Tuesday work lasted late so I just rode my bike up to the Shop to do the group ride. Ended up with a nice 35 mile day.

Did a nice solo ride. Rode 15 miles out on to the Island and back so ended with 30 miles total.

Thursday was a group ride again. Help Jessica with her bike (they had a tire problem) so we fell way back of the pack. Stoney and Lisa waited on McNeese and we proceeded as a group on 4. Did 23 miles.

Friday I rode from home to the Shop and met up with Charles and we rode the short route (21 mile) with the distance from home to the shop and back, I ended up with 28 miles.

Took Saturday off the bike.

This morning I got up and did the Grand Lake loop solo. Ended with 44 miles today.

Well I finished the week with a new weekly best mileage 160 miles. I am feeling really good on the bike.

Personal Mileage Challenge.

Miles needed 2000 Miles total this year 1843 Miles behind 157.

Made a big dent in the deficit for the year this week.

I am on pace to blow thru the 485 miles that I rode last month. I only need 34 miles to match that. Also this week on Wednesday is the monthly TT. So there will be some new news in the next update.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Weekly Update

Well time to wrap up the week.

Wednesday’s ride was a solo ride. It has been some time since I have been out riding solo. Ended up with 20 miles. Rode a little harder than I would have liked too. Kind of got going and just did it.

Thursday’s ride was 27 miles and was at a good pace. Was surprised that I was able to do it after riding too hard on Wednesday. Really been burning both ends of the candle lately. Between work and helping Dean at the Bike shop. Plus keeping up my riding.
Wasn’t able to ride again until Today. Went to the T-Gator Tri to help with the SAG on the bike leg. After the Tri, I rode with John, Stefan, Mike, Craig and The Megues Brothers. We did 31 miles. For them it was a easy pace. For me it was one of my fastest ever. I averaged 18.5 pace.

Riding out of Sam Houston Park was different for me. I encountered hills. (I know that they are not real hills. But going from South LC to up there it was a big difference.) I will have to try to go up that way and do some more rides.

Well on to my personal mile challenge.

Miles needed 1900 Total Miles ridden 1683 Miles Behind 217.

Only had 101 miles for the week. But I think I have been pushing it hard as of late. Hope I an have a better week this week. I have now gone 6 straight weeks with 100+ miles a week.

Well till my next post.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Weekly Recap

Well I guess I need to get caught up.

I rode Thursday night. Did 27 miles. As usual the wind was howling. Really wasn’t the best effort. I think I was just feeling a little worn down.

I was going to ride Saturday morning but I had a bout of Allergy problems. I am thankful this year. Lots of people have been fighting them this year. I would normally be really messed up with them. I think the exercising has been the difference.

Sunday morning I rode with Big Ron. Ended up with 36 miles. Had 114 for the week.

So for my personal mileage challenge.

Miles Needed 1800 Total Miles so Far 1581 Total Behind for the Year 219

I made up 14 miles this week. Was hoping to make a bigger dent in it but such is life.

Well today was the 1st ride of the week. I only did 23 miles but I had some good moments during the ride. A friend who I ride with has a saying. “Any day you get to ride your bike is a great day” I really agree with this statement. I know that when I ride, I feel better.

Well till the next time.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Ramblings

Well I felt like making a post today.

Monday was my off day so nothing to report there. I rode the Tuesday group ride.
The plan was to just take it easy. Like that really happened. Those of us middle packers started off earlier than the Fast group. Well some of the riders from that group who would normally get dropped after Tom Hebert Rd. left with us. We started off a nice pace. 16-18 mph. When we hit Southpark we went to the 17-19 mph pace. I will say that I really was enjoying this ride.

When we got to Tom Hebert Rd a small group broke out of the front but we had a group of 8-10 of us who stayed together. We rode the 17-20 pace all the way out to Helms Rd on 397. A group of 6-7 of us turned around and headed back in. We kept the same pace. That is till the Ladies got to the front and decided to show their power, the picked the pace up to 21 mph. (Thank you Lisa!!! LMAO)

We lost the Stoney man on Lincoln Rd and Lisa dropped back with him. (Stoney is the toughest guy I have met. Nothing seems to hold this guy back!) I stayed with the group. And we kept the 17-20 pace going.

I stayed with it till Southpark. That’s where when the pace got up to over 25 mph that I fell off. I regained the group on McNeese for a easy ride back to the shop.
This was by far one of my best group rides. I enjoyed the people I was riding with and the pace was fantastic!

Last night I rode with Ron. Jessica messaged me and wanted to ride so we all rode from Ron’s house. We did an easy 23.5 mile ride. Big Ron wanted to push the pace but like I told him “save that energy for tonight’s ride”
So with that ride I have 126 mile for the month of May. (We are only 6 days into the month) and 50 miles for the week.

I am really feeling strong right now. I know that there will be low points, but right now I am making some solid gains.

Sunday I pulled up an old Email I had sent my dad back in September of last year. It was only 6 weeks in to my riding. I listed a bunch of goals. I have stuck to most of them. Some of them I have just blown clear out of the water.

I was talking to a friend on Tuesday. The said that I might have to make a higher
goal for my annual mileage goal. My response was that I won’t set a number above the 5200 miles I set. I will just beat that number in to the ground if I can do it.

One goal that I wrote about in that email was the Seattle to Portland ride. It is 202 miles. I wanted to do that in 2011. I have decided that I will do that one in 2012. But that is a ride which I will be doing!

Will be riding tonight, Saturday and Sunday. So I should make another post on Sunday with a recap of the tail end of the week.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

The Weekly Update


This was the gang that we Rode with. AKA Team Wall. The 2 ladies from Beaumont who rode with us gave us that name. LMAO



My dad, Big ROn and Myself before the Start of the 2010 Tour Lafitte.


Well time for an update. Where to start? This week was my best ever on the bike.

I rode 23 miles with Ron on Monday. Normally Monday is an off day. But the Monthly Time Trial that they said was going to be the 1st Wednesday of the month, is actually going to be the Last Wednesday of the month. So I make a change on the fly so I could rest Tuesday and make a good showing on the Time Trial.

Now to the time trial. Last Month I did the TT in 42M 33S. Its 20K. My average speed was 17.3.

I did this one in 39M 3S. Average speed of 18.9 mph. Dropped 3M 33S off my time. The is a long list of reasons for the improvement. New wheel set, Lots of training miles (420 miles from the last TT), better ride planning just to list a few. I was really stoked by my improvement. Can’t wait till the end of May to do it again.

I ended the month of April with 485 miles for the month. My best ever before this was 401 miles in November of last year. I could have rode Friday and broke the 500 make but I had Tour Lafitte on Saturday and the weather was going to be a issue and my dad had came in to town for the ride so I just left the 500 mile barrier up to break for another month.

Now on to the Tour. I decided early in April to ride the 40 mile route with my dad and Ron. Very glad for that decision. I had a great time. There was a group of 8 people and we stayed together for the whole 40 miles. The wind was brutal but as a group we made the ride.

This morning I capped off the best week ever on the bike. I went out on a ride with Big Ron. We rode to Boone’s Corner and back home. He ended up with 33, I rode to his house and back home so I had 35 miles. He did great!!! I know that that was his fastest ride ever. This after a very hard 40 miles yesterday in the wind at the Tour Lafitte!!! He is making great strides.

I ended the week with 140 miles in 9H 33M. My most miles and longest time ever!!! The funny thing is that I feel like I could do more! But not to worry. I will keep building up the miles.

My mileage goal update.

Week Miles Needed Miles Rode Total Miles
13 1300 79.7 960.0 -340.0
14 1400 112.6 1072.6 -327.4
15 1500 125.2 1197.8 -302.2
16 1600 129.3 1327.1 -272.9
17 1700 140.4 1467.5 -232.5

I am now only 232 miles behind of my goal. As you can see I have been hacking away at the deficit each week. At this pace I should be back on track by mid-July if not sooner. 5200 is the goal for the year.

Big Ron and I are planning a road trip to Beaumont on the 5th of June to ride the Spindle Top Spin. We will be doing the 50+ mile route. Then for July we are going to ride the Katy Flatland ride. Will most likely do 60 mile ride there.

Well enough for now.