7/21 - 2 rides. 27 miles in Bull Valley doing hill repeats, and about 20 miles hauling my son in a trailer. Good day AND I deposited some family rim in the marriage bank.

BTW - broke 50mph again on Valley Hill road - 50.1 :D

Rode over to Performance in Northbrook today to buy a new UN54 Bottom Bracket for my commuter bike. I took the North Branch Trail. It is actually closed north of Tower road (both branches) because they are laying new concrete. On the way there I took Forest way which runs alongside the trail. Pavement was pretty cracked and nasty for my road bike. The way back I took Skokie Rd all the way back to Tower where I caught the trail. About 25 miles round trip, pretty nice.

only did 10 today :( but my elbow feels much better. A little black and blue, yes it hurt, I stayed on road and bike. Will try 45 tomarrow.

29.7 miles today on a local MUP, averaged just under 16 MPH. I thought about stretching the ride out to 40 miles, but I didn't really feel like it. I might hit the gym after lunch though.

In other news... I weighed in at 213.6 pounds this morning before breakfast (I'm 6'3" BTW). That's less than I've weighed in about 3 years, and down from a high of 237 last fall. Woot!

-DR

7/22 - about a 1 hour ride on the fixed gear thanks to Kenal0's thread about riding fixed. I was cruising at 30 for most of the ride......kilometers per hour that is. Computer on that rig got changed over somehow. Felt like a fast ride. ;)

Commute in today. Awesome morning for a ride. I hate the return trip tho, mostly uphill. Maybe thats why I love the ride in so much :D:D:D

7/22
 

Rode from Wales, WI to Lake Geneva just a shade under 40 miles for the day. Met my daughter, who gave me a ride back home.

07/23 - Commute in. Nice morning. Arm warmers for the first hour of the ride. I love weather like this.

Sunday was my longest ride ever. Rode from my house to the local metra station. Took it to Round Lake. Rode west to Mchenry where I caught the MC prairie path. Rode to Richmond then took the little known and used Hebron trail to Hebron. From there I used the Lake Geneva route which was posted here last week and went to Lake Geneva. That area has the topology of an impact crater; steepest, most grueling hills I ever encountered in the great plains. I was glad I had the granny gear on my Trek 520. After completing the circuit of Lake Geneva, I rode back to Hebron and then south to Woodstock and came home on Union Pacific Northwest. Grand total 90 miles. I was spent. While waiting for the metra, I went across the street to a gas station and guzzled almost a full 2l of diet coke in one sitting.

I just caught this thread off the front page.

I miss living next door to the IPP Aurora branch. :(

7/24 - 37 miles.

This heat is kicking my butt!
 

I came close to calling the sag, er...wife to save my sorry self today. Went to MN to pick up the new guitar hero for the kids, really, for the kids;). 25 miles to the Best Buy in Oakdale. Not too hot when I left and tailwind most of the way. Picked up the game and started back. Made a stop for lunch, then detoured down to Afton and caught the bike path to I94 to cross the river back to WI. By then the heat was too much. I stopped and downed an energy shake, a Gatorade, doused my head with one of my water bottles and filled bottle with another Gatorade. I struggled from there, Hudson, to Glover Park in the Town of Troy. Thought I could douse off with more cold water and refill the bottle. But I had to pump the water! That was as hard as riding in this heat. It was here I almost called for a ride, the 50 mile mark. After a 15 - 20 minute break, I saddled up and finished the trip.
59.13 and finished at 16 mph avg. Tough alone with no wheel sucking to help the avg.

Yes!!! About 45 miles taking off along Boulder Creek here in Boulder CO. This is biking paradise. I love it here and never want to leave.

The hills here .....well, they're actually mountains. I rode hills ....long hills all day long. Had to push the bike in the last mile. I bonked and was just done..still..It was awesome!!!!!!

I ran yesterday in Rocky Mountain State Park. My friend and I ran 7 miles (well, lots of hiking as well) trying to keep our eyes off the snowcapped mountains and lovely meadows. Finally we'd just stop and look around and take pictures. We finally just quit commenting about the beauty. It is so vast that no picture can convey it althought I've taken many. Finished off with lunch in Nederland, an old mining town, where a lady went out back to pick greens fresh for my salad.

I extended our stay till Monday.

Sprained my left ankle ....bad...it is twice its normal size. Not running rocky trails but tripping on something at the trailhead parking area after we finished running :mad: They call me Grace.

More later, Crystal

nice ride smokinmiles. heal that ankle up fast and get back to those hills!!

7/25 = Yes = 31 miles.

legs were good despite some limited riding recently and increased running.

later.

Got out of school early tonight & snagged a quick 18 miles before dark. Held 30 MPH on a sprint in the second half of the ride, and I wasn't even going downhill. I'm getting faster. :D

-DR

raced a superweek race this morning, had good position into the last turn, but some guy dives inside and almost takes me out, im out of the sprint. finish 24th but i think I got DQ'd because I forgot to go to junior rollout.

recovery/group ride tonight ~28 miles, a little hilly, about 1.5 hours

Did 72 yesterday. The first 40 were great. Then I turned south, right into the wind, and my speed dropped drastically. Unfortunately, I had split the amount of hours of daylight in two, and rode 2.5 hours before heading back. So... as my body started complainig, I had no choice to continue riding at a decent clip or I'd be riding in the dark, either on busy roads or verydark

oops! Continued from 10 seconds ago.

...trails in the woods. It was a good ride, but I guess my legs weren't really quite as ready as I thought. Sometimes my brain forgets that my legs need the miles in 'em, and I can't just ride long 'cause I feel like it when I haven't put on enough base miles.:o Oh well, still better than a sharp stick in the eye.

7//27 - 36 miles. Had a late start due to rain this morning.

Was planning on doing a 17 mile loop. Got to mile 7.5 and got a flat (stupid glass!). Fortunately I was close to a sports store (Scheels), so I walked there and got a patch kit and some other stuff I've been putting off getting since I'm a cheap-o for things I don't have to have.

I survived my 12 straight nights of work ... was pretty much useless for the first 24 hours after, just recovering, but got out for 25 miles today. Took the long way to the grocery store, and suffered with an overstuffed backpack all the home into the wind. It was great! Felt good to pedal again. (oh you bet I bought a few Lottery numbers!)

Did only 15 miles today. Got up a little late today, I was planning on a 5:30 ride start, didn't get out the door until 5:55. Had to cut the ride short and came home 6:45 just in time for the wife to take her 20 mile ride.
Kids are still asleep *wheew* :D

41 miles- 17.4 average solo. Perfect day.
Kenal0

7/29 - 37 miles on the Des Plaines Trail North for a change.

29 miles 13 mph average. I have been sick all week and I thought I was fine, but I guess not. Every time I would start to go faster I thought I would get sick. Got behind a couple of guys that waved me through, but I told them I would hang with them if it was ok. I hung with them for about 8 miles then I went on my own. I went up a big hill and I thought my stomach was going to bust. Too bad, because today was the first day that the weather was very nice.

Finally got home and got my dog, took her for a ride/trot for 2 miles.

Even though I was not feeling well, it was a good ride, considering.