PRs in July!

Another month has flown by. Somebody slow this train down! It'll be winter before we know it. Ugh...

Anyhoo, July was a good month for my bike and me. I managed to set PRs in:

Monthly mileage: 591
Total rides: 12
Miles per ride: 49.3
Longest ride: 83.7 mi.
Elevation gain: 11,927'
Most miles/week: 169

The only thing that slacked off a bit was my average pace. I attribute that to more climbing and longer rides.

I only lost 2 lbs. in July, but I was fairly close to my goal weight when the month started. I could probably stand to lose another 5 lbs, but no more than that. I don't have the need or desire to be at my marathon weight. I was too light (and weak) back then (2010).

Yesterday, my long ride (83.7 miles) was cut short due to heat exhaustion. I was only a few miles from home, but had a pretty good climb ahead of me to finish. I was toast, so I called my wife to come rescue me. It was still a PR by 21 miles (and in 95+ degree heat), so I'm not disappointed.

August looks to be another great month on the bike, with more PRs on the way. It's been very hot lately, so I'm looking forward to some cooler days.

Keep moving forward, my friends!

153 Miles

I wrapped up a solid week of cycling yesterday, giving me 153 miles for the week. That's a distance PR, which I expect to break again before too long. I had to contend with heat and wind early in the week, but the last two rides (Thurs & Fri) were far more windy than they were hot.

I'm still not doing much climbing, but I think I'm about ready to branch out (i.e. not just ride back and forth on the Centennial Trail by the Spokane River) and find some new areas with a bit of climbing involved. Nothing too crazy, though. Not yet, anyway.

The legs feel just a bit tired, but they're not too drained, although I know if I tried to ride this weekend, I'd be feeling it. But my fitness is improving!

I'll ride with Tom again on Monday, which will probably be a long ride (50+ miles). I think we're going to head into Coeur d'Alene and explore a little. With my mom flying in from Florida on Tuesday, I probably won't have much riding time the rest of the week.

THIS WEEK

M: 32 mi.
T: 52.2 mi.
W: off
TH: 32.1 mi.
F: 37.1 mi.
S: off
S: off

TOTAL: 153.4 mi.

Long, Hot and Windy Ride

You know you're a newbie cyclist when you record your longest ride ever, and it's barely over a half century. But that's exactly what I did yesterday.

I met my new riding friend, Tom, at a local trailhead yesterday morning, where we set out on the Centennial Trail for a casual ride. We didn't have a set distance or time in mind, so we played it by ear. It was a hot morning and getting hotter as the ride progressed. We crossed the border into Idaho and decided to continue through Post Falls (a small town just across the border) with the hopes of finding a trail by the river. We failed in that quest, but managed to ride through a Strava segment named "Cruising through the Ghetto of Post Falls. Watch out for the drug dealer at the auto place!" Nice. We could tell it was a shady part of town, but I wasn't aware of that segment until I uploaded my ride data to Strava. Maybe we'll choose another route next time.

We had a tailwind all the way out which meant, of course, we had to ride back into the wind. It was approaching 90°f by now, so the heat was becoming a factor. After a few miles riding into the headwind, I could tell my tank was running low. I was okay through about 42 miles, but from then on I was running on fumes. I had just about polished off my second bottle of fluid, and my legs were toast. I hung onto Tom (a more experienced and more fit cyclist) and, after a short rest break to stretch and eat a granola bar, we made it back to the trailhead. Thankfully there was a working water fountain, where we refilled our bottles with cold-ish water (the water & sports drink in my bottles was warm for most of the ride, even though they started as mostly ice). Once I dismounted, I noticed that I was pretty lightheaded and dizzy. Tom had another 15 miles of riding — including some climbing — to get home. I knew if that was my situation, I'd be in trouble. It was 93° at this point.

I loaded up my bike, started my truck and sat in the AC for a few minutes to recover and cool off.

Once home, I ate, drank, took an ice bath followed by a hot shower, put on compression socks, then laid on the couch for 30 minutes.

I learned that, even though I'm improving on the bike, I have a long way to go. Heat + headwind are not my friends. Still, I'm happy with the ride and enjoyed Tom's company and conversation.

NUMBERS:
Distance - 52.1 miles
Time - 3:05:55
Pace - 16.9 mph
HR - 131 avg / 145 max

Cycling miles YTD: 714