Fifty Plus (50+) - Rode My Age Today ... Not Planned, Just Happened.

I piddled around trying to navigate through three metroparks in SE Michigan that are linked by a paved bike path. The bad news is I ran out of bike path while going north into the higher metropark, but the good news is I wound up in a low traffic area (Romulus, MI) ... so kept riding on Huron Drive around the Romulus area of Metro Airport ... before backtracking to the bike path that goes into the two lower metroparks.

I fueled up with a large order of french fries and three large diet cokes (burp) at a Romulus Burger King, and got my second wind. Having not ridden in a week, my leg muscles seemed to have been fresh enough to take the distance. Total time from beginning to end of ride was about five and a half hours, but my computer for some reason lost its accrued average speed for the 270 collective miles I ended with today on my new bike. Today's distance was 52.7 miles and I recently turned 51, and I would guess that my average speed today was around 13 MPH.

I'm currently experiencing a comfortable pain in my leg and back muscles ... sort of like the saying "hurts so good". May be an endorphin high, that I've heard about from strenuous activity.

:beer:

Out-freakin' standing! :D

Congratulations. Nothing like a little mileage to make the day right eh?

Congrats!! One of the best kind of rides!!

"Just happened " rides are often among the best.

“Believe me, my young friend”, to reconfigure a line from an old piece of wisdom, “there is nothing…absolutely nothing…half so much worth doing as simply messing about on a bike."

I love it when I set out to just do a ride and end up doing more than I thought I would do. congrats on the ride and the birthday. :bday:
Glad your questionable mid-ride meal didn't kill you. 3 large Diet Cokes? :eek:

A long, casual, comfortable ride that just happens to pile up some mileage is a really nice day. Good for the soul and the body. Nice going!

Glad your questionable mid-ride meal didn't kill you. 3 large Diet Cokes? :eek:

What gets me is where the liquid went. I had just ridden eleven miles when I stopped at Carbs'R'Us (Burger King). I didn't feel thirsty when I went in, but as soon as I started drinking the first barrel (reaaally big cups) of diet pop, my body craved more liquid. I guess I should have just asked for copious amounts of water instead, since I wasn't drinking the diet pop for any sugar-energy. I didn't void any of the liquid I consumed, to include the water from my two bike-water-bottles, during the 5.5 hour ride. I didn't really sweat that much, as I was practically nekked except for hat, shoes, and shorts. So, where in the heck did all that liquid go?

PS: What exactly is an endorphin high, how much stress on the body is required for such an endorphin high, and how long does it last ... minutes, hours?

Nicely done. The best rides are those that just seem to unfold.

Way to go! Those unplanned ones are the best!

Large fries and 3! large diet Cokes? On a long ride? Oh man, just thinking about that makes my stomach hurt.