Bigmark

Yesterday I completed my first forty mile ride in thirty years! Every one knows I have a Gary Fisher Tiburon Hybrid, and I went with a friend that has a Trek 7300. We didn’t push ourselves to hard, because it was in the upper 80’s, with upper 80’s for humidity, but we did a good pace (for me) and we had a blast doing it. We saw a deer standing over us, (again without my camera) wild turkeys, I ate a butterfly, and we got chased by a dog. Oh yea, it also rained on us for about five miles. We stopped to lend a guy my emergency pump. All that and a good deed too! What a great Sunday! Last year at this time if someone wanted me to ride I would have found any excuse to not go, but for now I am on top of the world. It looks good for me to be riding a solo metric century sometime this fall. I will be riding from Zinnia to Cincinnati.

No questions this time, just excited about a small accomplishment, and I had to let everyone know. If it wasn’t for everyone here I don’t think I would be riding as well as I am. OH Yea, the new Bontrager Comfort Saddle is outstanding. No more numbness. Thanks for the input.

va_cyclist

Congratulations Bigmark. That's a great milestone.

drplasma64

Congratulations! That's great, and *I* don't think it's a small acomplishment!

I'd also like to say that I've been inspired by your website and your postings. You are always very positive, and I know with such a good attitude and love for cycling you will reach whatever goals you set.

Bigmark

Thanks. I believe if you try to keep a positive attitude, positive things happen. As for the 40 mile ride, I am hoping to shadow it with a 60 this weekend. The way I feel today, I think 60 is well within my abilities. I will let everyone know how that went.

KingTermite 

Wow! Great job, BM!

I'm still not "quite" to that point yet......I think I could do that, but my current problem is I'm outgrowing my current ride partners. One does not want to do more than a little....it's not exercise for her, just getting out to see nature for a little while. The other just doesn't try to increase her abilities...she's happy to be status quo all the time.

Longest ride *I*'ve doen so far was about 25-28 miles (can't remember exactly....it was a while ago). I'm getting the bug and want to increase my speed and distance, but am fidning that I'm having to try to work on that alone.

Anyway....big *gratz*!!

Shotgun

Way to go, BigMark! You are doing great. Don't worry about doing the 60. IMHO, if you can do 40, you can do 60. Just make sure you have enough fuel to get you there.

HWS

<I will be riding from Zinnia to Cincinnati.>

Do you mean Xenia?? Theres a trail that runs to Cinci from Xenia station (it actually starts a lot further north) thats quite popular around here. I ride a good part of it every day.

Bigmark

Yea, I would like to do a large section of the trail.

I forget the name of the town that I am going to start in, but from what I can see it will be a great ride. I am going to get dropped off, and ride to Cincinnati, where I will catch up with my wife’s nephew.

What can I expect on my ride? Trail conditions and so forth. Any info would be a great help. I am very excited about this ride, and I am hoping to see a lot of nice scenery along the way.

I was told that the trail is somewhat flat, is that true, or should I be concentrating more on hill training?

HWS

The portion of the trail I ride (Springfield to Waynesville is very flat and in excellent condition. There are "stations" about every 10 miles where you can refill water bottles, get into some A/C if you need and get info about the trail and maps. If you are starting out in Xenia, I would recommend putting in at Shawnee Park or Xenia Station. There are several LBS along the rout also in case you break down or just want to look around.

Here's a link to a portion of the trail system https://www.miamivalleytrails.org/

Bigmark

Very Cool. Thanks for the info. Every day I ride I think about riding those trails. It will be one of the highlights of my year to be able to do this. If I am able to complete this ride I will feel like I accomplished something big this year. I can not tell everyone here how much I appreciate the support I have been given both at home and from this forum.

Thanks to everyone who has been so helpful.