Flats and Long Rides

I have been getting a ton of flat tires. Nearly every ride now. So I decided to order some new tires. I put the new Conti GP5000 tires on yesterday (conference calls are good for something), and I am hoping that it will prevent some of the flats that I have had.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Adam said I should ride the road by his house. He said the road is good and it would make a nice out and back for me. So I rode part of it last week and he was right. So this weekend, with my last long ride planned, I did a full 56 mile bike ride as an out and back.

It has a lot of rolling hills, but only a couple of small chain ring hills on it. But that makes it more challenging. It was gusty winds today out of the northwest. So most of the first half was into the winds. I was getting blown all over the place, especially when I would come out of the trees into an open field. Good practice though.

Good ride, my legs are jelly, but I have a really good idea what to expect in my race in two weeks.

Racing!!!

I just signed up for the Aqua-Bike division of the Square Lake 70.3 triathlon! I debated signing up for the whole triathlon, but while I have been running some, it has been slow and short runs only. Injuries still slowing me down with my running. But I have been doing a bunch of swimming and biking so thats the perfect way to end the season!

Beautiful Sunrises on Lake Superior

 The winds and weather here in the last week have contributed to amazing swim experiences on Lake Superior. Warm and calm water, and beautiful sunrises. Almost a religious experience.

First Century Ride!!

Heck YEA!!!!!

It was a great day for a ride. Started off in the low 60's and was upper 70's when I finished. Mix of sun and clouds. Wind was light for the first 3rd and then picked up and changed directions for the rest of the ride.

I had no goals for this ride other than to finish. I had struggled towards the end of the last couple of long rides that I did, so I wasn't sure how the last 30 miles were going to go.

I did a 40 mile loop back to my house, then a quick pit stop, and bottle refill and I was back on the road. I had planned another 40 mile out and back for a second refill, but the weather was cooler so I played it by ear. I had plenty of fluids left at the planned turnaround so I went the extra 10 miles out.

I actually felt amazingly good for the first 85 miles, and then my butt was like "get me off this bike" and my legs were starting to complain about all the power I had asked of them for the last 3.5 hours.

So the last 45 minutes was a mental game to finish. Talking myself to the next stop sign where I would give my butt a break, and convincing my legs that we were almost done. 

BTW, am I weird for talking to various body parts during these things?

So overall I am SUPER happy with how this turned out. I felt good the whole time, the legs got tired at the end which didn't surprise me. I put out some great power on this ride, kept the HR reasonably in control and overall had a good time.

Now time to relax!