Two Wheel Blogs

Route: The Belk Park Loop
Times: 59:50 (6:00 a.m.), 59:30 (12:00 noon)
Miles: 18.0
Pace: 18.0 mph

Riding Tunes

• Bob Marley & The Wailers, ONE LOVE: THE VERY BEST OF BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
• Bob Marley & The Wailers, LIVE AT THE RECORD PLANT 12.02.73

My Week

I figured out, due to commitments on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, my riding week starts on Thursday and ends on Monday. Last week, I rode 300 miles. I've never ridden 300 miles in a 5-day period before.

• Thursday: 100, to Carinville and back
• Friday: 65, mostly on Madison County trails
• Saturday: 60, all on Madison Country trails
• Sunday: 50, Marine loop out to Silver Lake
• Monday: 30, on St. Charles flats

All in all, it was a good week of riding -- especially on the late Sunday afternoon ride when the road and the scenery and the music all came together in the short but beautiful stretch by Silver Lake in Highland. It lasted all of five minutes, maybe, but it's five-minute stretches like that that I ride for. I had a goord, hard ride on Monday night, thanks to the two strong legs of Steve O'Neal, or as I now refer to him, "Freight Train." He helped pull me around the flats at a 19.9 mph pace -- fastest I've ever ridden that course.

Ride 1: 6:00 a.m.

So after resting up Tuesday and Wednesday, I thought I'd start this riding week with my Belk Park run. I was up early and on the road by 6:00 a.m., and it was already warm. I tried to keep my pace up as I rolled down the Watershed Trail, then up Moreland towards the turn at Buchta, but it was hard. I rode on through Belk, then the turn onto Rock Hill that begins the return trip. I knew I wasn't going to set a PR, but I wasn't trying to. I just wanted to do it in less than an hour. Some loose gravel on a couple of curves made me give up more speed than I would have liked. Ah, momentum. The Mighty Mo' -- hard to attain, harder to sustain, and once lost, even harder to regain. I rode as hard as I felt i could the rest of the way, but I couldn't work up enough focus to push myself that hard. When I rolled in the drive and checked my Cat's Eye, I laughed when I saw my time: 59:50. Made it with nine seconds to spare! Actually, I was just happy it was under an hour because I didn't think I'd ridden that hard.

Ride 2: 12:00 noon

After working for five hours, I decided to try the loop again, just to see if I could ride it faster. It was now hotter than it had been that morning, but I was now more awake. And besides, after just barely breaking 60:00 in the morning, surely I'd be able to do better this afternoon. The morning ride was just to blow the bust out of the carbureutor, right? So I retraced the loop, consciously trying to push myself a little harder than that morning. I had a good pace down the Watershed, and did okay climbing Moreland. But the heat was taking its toll, and as I turned onto Buchta towards Belk, I could feel myself fading. While I knew I should be pushing 17-18 mph, all I could must was 14-15. Oh well. I rode through Belk, and was very happy to make the turn onto Rock Hill. Again, I pushed myself as hard as I felt I could the rest of the way home. I rolled into my drive, hit the Cat's Eye and ... 59:30. Woo-hoo! Twenty seconds faster than that morning. Okay, a small victory, but I'll take 'em where I can get ''em.

The Week Ahead

I had intended to ride today, but life had other plans, so I didn't. So I get an extra day of rest. Tomorrow, I'm thinking about doing the Marine Loop or the @ Route, depending on if I feel like riding two or three hours. I guess it will depend on what time I get up. Whichever, I'll probably do a longer ride on Sunday before finising the week on the St. Charles flats on Monday night. Then it's two days to rest, then something on Thursday. On Friday, I plan to do the epic Covered Bridge run with Boz and Scott Thompson. Boz sent me a link to a chart showing the elevation of the route. In terms of climbing, this will be the most challenging ride I've ever done. I can't wait. Until then, it's back out on the road for more flat miles. But that's okay. Life is filled with enough ups and downs that you should appreciate rolling on the flats when you can.