Two Wheel Blogs

I'm on vacation this something, a welcome mid-year break from work. The thing I enjoy most about vacation is the freedom to ride when I want, where I want, and for as long as I like. So I've increased my mileage this week, if not my pace.

Tues 7.6: Marine Loop

I had just ridden this same route on Monday. And generally, I don't like to ride the same route two days in a row. But on Monday, I rode it because

• I hadn't ridden it for a while
• I wanted to ride for about two hours, and
• I was on vacation, so I could ride where I want.

I also did not know I'd be riding it again on Tuesday. That morning, I had met a friend of mine from work, Mike, at the cross country course at SIUE. He's going to run the Mud Mountain 5K Classic on the course on July 24th. He's never run a cross country race before, so I offered to run the course with him to get him familiar wiith it. Fortunately, some cloud cover helped keep the heat down, and it was quite pleasant while we ran.

That afternoon, my wife, Diane, was going to go to the health club in town. (We are considering joining it and are using a 3-day guest pass to test-drive the facilities.) She suggested that I meet her towards the end of her workout routine. I did the math and figured I had about an hour and a half to kill. I could have ridden anywhere, but a shorted Marine Loop would just about cover the time and deliver me right to the health club's doorstep.

So I set out. And the ride was pretty much a slightly slower repeat of Monday's. What wind there was seemed to be coming out of the south/southeast. I maintained an aceptable pace as I headed east on Fruit Road. My pace slowed as I rode south, and into the wind, on Marine Road. The right turn onto Lower Marine Road brought some relief, but not much. When I came to the three hills near the end of the route, I had nothing. The speed I'd pick up on the downhill would immediately vanish as I started up the next climb. Pedal as I might, I couldn't carry any speed up the next climb.

I was glad to put the last hill behind me. I was very glad to roll up to the health club. It has a hot tub with powerful jets. After riding for 1:46, my muscles were ready for some hydro-massage action.

Wed 7.7: Madison County Trail Loop

With rain in the forecast for this afternoon, I wanted to get my ride in early. I rolled out at 8:30 a.m. I did not have a route picked, but having just ridden the Marine Loop twice in two days, I knew I wasn't going to retrace that route again. I decided to trade the chip-and-seal country roads for the smooth asphalt of the Madion County Trail network. So I set out to do the Great Circle Route.

I headed through town on the Goshen connector, then took the Troy Spur out and before before getting back on the Schoolhouse Trail, which bought me down the bluffs and across the bottoms to Horsehouse Lake. There I took the Nature Trail north towards Edwardsville, but I chose to take the extension through Glen Carbon. This put me on the Goshen connector and brought me very close to home.

As I reached the intersection with the Watershed Trail, I checked my odometer: 34 miles. If I were to do the Belk Park Loop from this point, I calculated, that would put me over 50 miles for the day. I was tired -- and feeling it -- but I wanted to hit 50. So I headed down the Watershed Trail and starte the loop.

It was slow going -- especially the climb up Moreland. But I pushed the pedals as best I could. "Soldiering on," I believe, would be an apt description of the effort. When I rolled in my driveway, I was happy to be home, especially as I was very tired and thirsty by this point. For the morning, I rode 53 miles in three hours and ten minutes, for a pace of 16.8. It would have been good to avergae 17 mph or better, but I just didn't have it in my today.