Last weekend before the long ride

This was a our last weekend ride before the long ride. We have been training for a few months and it feels more like a few weeks. I can barely believe it is time for the actual race day. This week will be filled with lots of short workouts as Clay and I prepare for our 50 mile trek through Western Pennsylvania on Sunday.

Our weekend ride took place on Old 22 near our house and left me feelling confident about Sunday's ride (as long as we can avoid any major rainstorms). Riding on the road has not been what we have embraced on our long rides we have grown very found of the beautiful trails and had a tendency to flock to them. So this has left me uneasy about our upcoming Tour de Cure road ride. What I realized this weekend was though the baby hills left em feeling a little tired in the middle of them I had a quick recovery whenever we were descending or back on flat ground showing the level of the endurance that Clay and I have gained during our training. Adding a few miles each weekend didn't seem too bad, but once we started to hit the 30 mile plus threshold things were starting to get tougher. Next week will definitely be a challenge, but this week was a nice reward:

Trip Distance: 15.45 miles
Trip Time: 1:13:14
Average Speed: 12.66 mph
Maximum Speed: 32.75 mph

A ride that required small burst of energy and proved that our endurance has dramatically improved. There was a point with this ride would have been the same level of challenge that our 40 mile ride was last weekend.

Last Long Ride

This past Sunday we had our last long ride before the Tour de Cure event which is quickly approaching. Next weekend we will only have a 20 mile ride. This weekends ride was very rough for me. I actually ended up having numbness in two of my fingers and a little knee pain. The knee pain went away quickly; however, the finger numbness is still there though it is getting better ever day. All of my research indicates it is the ulnar nerve. For this reason we decided to buy some biking gloves for me.

I'm so excited to complete 50 miles on my bike. This sunday we completed 40 - 40 miles on my bike there was a point in my life when I would have thought that was insane and actually today I still think I am crazy at points, but the sense of accomplishment is great and our physical abilities are vastly improving.

This adventure has inspired us to run a half marathon in October - the catch we are running as a two person relay team - still at 6.5 - 7 miles each that is farther than we've ever run and we are looking forward to it.


Sunday, June 7 2009
Trip Distance: 39.5 miles (we were off a little because of changing om direction)
Trip Time: 3:01:46
Average Speed: 12.99
Maximum Speed: 21.43

Terrain - burgettstown to robinson gravel trail - long gradual hills

Wellsburg to Wheeling

We are now starting to have trouble finding rides that meet our distance requirements.   Yesterday we had planned on riding in Pittsburgh on the the trails at the South Side unfortunately we would have had the same issue that we had last week at Morraine State Park, we would have had to redo the loop several times to meet our weekly 35 mile requirement.  Instead we decided to go with an old favorite the Wellsburg to Wheeling ride, not a lot of hills but a nice variation in terrain.  Clay and I were thrilled to not have had any rain especially when we found a patch of rain by the coke plant on our way to the ride.  We were not to thrilled that we forgot sunscreen.  We have remembered every weekend but for some reason yesterday we were off our game.  We did however complete 35.67 miles which was fantastic.  We are only a month away from ride day.  We need to work on getting a little more funding for the Tour De Cure.  

Trip Distance:  35.67

Trip Time: 2:38:40 

Average Speed: 13.48

Maximum Speed: 25.90

Morraine State Park

We went on a ride on Friday, May 15, I just haven't taken the time to post in a while.  Last Friday we went to Morraine State Park to check out the general area of where our ride is going to take place at.  They have a great riding trail at Morraine park and beautiful views of the lake; however, the trail is only 7 miles long which means we had to double-up and ride the trail twice.  We also chose to climb a big hill about 1/2 mile long in order to build our climbing skills.  The trail had a nice combination of turns and baby hills.  It was a perfect Friday off for clay and I. 

Distance:  32.36

Time: 2:28:07

Average Speed: 13:10 

Maximum Speed: 29:47

30 mile ride

Today Clay and I successfully completed our 30 mile ride. We road all the way from Wellsburg to Wheeling a nice combination of terrain we went through road - off road and paved trails. However, we did not encounter a lot of climbs. We will definitely need to incorporate some climbs on our next weekend ride. It was a fantastic feeling to know that we only have 20 more miles to go to reach our goal.

Trip Distance: 32.31 miles
Trip Time: 2:19:52
Average Speed: 13.87
Maximum Speed: 22.03 - not too bad for no hills!

Last week we ran out of road so our trip was split into two days instead of one. I lost the stats so i was not able to blog about it. But we completed 15 miles on Saturday and 12 miles on Sunday.

Second 25 mile ride

Saturday  we went on a ride - originally we intended to ride 27 miles, but as we started on a continuous grade for about 2 miles are energy quickly depleted and we quickly changed our mind to base this ride on time and not distance.  So we decided we would ride for an hour and then turn around.  A gravel trail is definitely a little more tasking than riding on pavement.  We will need to ride on pavement this weekend and add in some more rolling hills.  Unfortunately, we haven't find the perfect road to ride on yet.  

Trip Distance:  25.26 miles

Trip Time: 1:53:19 (a little under two hours because we made great time on the way back)

Average Speed: 13.37 mph 

Maximum Speed: 22.62 mph 

Not too bad.  I also have to say that we realized how blessed we were and how amazingly kind people are.  Clay lost his wallet after the ride either left it on the truck or dropped it.  We came home before realizing as he headed back to find it I actually started calling to cancel his credit cards.  Later that afternoon I got a call from Giant Eagle because someone called them with Clay's wallet and met us later that afternoon to return it.  There are some wonderful people in this world and we are so blessed that one of those wonderful people found clay's wallet. 

The montour trail!

Our 25 mile ride - Halfway there

After taking last week off because of Easter festivities and the mucus born illness that struck both Clay and I it was great to get out this weekend and accomplish our 25 mile ride, which brings us to the the halfway point of our goal.   A beautiful day with a temperature of about 70 degrees and some beautiful sunshine we enjoyed our 25 mile adventure.  This week we choose minimal hills since we had not been aggressively working out for the entire week. 

The ride started at above the dam in wheeling and took us all the way to the other end of Benwood, it was a great adventure  - We we excited to see our old neighbor friend who used to live next to Clay on Chapline Street 

Trip Distance: 25.05 miles

Trip Time: 1:40:26

Average Speed: 14.80 mph 

Max Speed: 23.81 mph 

We look forward to a challenging ride next week! 

Hilly Weekend Ride

On Sunday, we took a ride on old 22, there were a few more hills than we thought, but the ride was great.  We left the house road out penco road onto pennsylvania avenue.  It was a great opportunity for me to be more comfortable riding on the road with cars.  After a night out celebrating one of our friends birthdays we started out slow, but quickly picked up the pace.   We didn't actually make it to our 22 mile mark, but were proud of the endurance and challenge. 

Trip Distance: 18.47 miles

Trip Time: 1:39:53

Average Speed: 11.10 mph

Maximum Speed: 30.96 mph (I definitely think this is the fastest I have ever gone on my bike)

All in all a good day and we can't wait for the challenging ride next week. 

20 mile ride

Training is continuing and going well.  We actually completed our 20 mile ride yesterday, it was a beautiful day around 55 degrees and sunny, we had some spurts of very windy weather, but it was a nice challenging ride in Wheeling a mixture of small hills but mostly a flat ride.  We started at the Mason Rehabilitation Center road all the way to the end of the trail in Benwood and then to Warwood and back.  Right now we are still  having fun and not getting to worn out from the rides, but as our distance starts increasing we are having trouble coming up with routes that seem to make sense to ride.  We need to start doing a little better planning. 

This weeks ride was a slight challenge, but a great ride.  Since we were riding in our old neighborhood it was a great measure of our physical fitness.  Small hills that were extremely challenging to us in 2007 (when we lived in Wheeling) we not too challenging at all this weekend.  It is sometimes difficult to measure how much things in your life change, until you take a step back to a place you haven't been for a while and this weekend we had the privilege of taking that step back and realizing we are in much better physical shape today than we have been for a long time! 

We also found a great snack that keeps Clay from getting headaches - LARA BARs really seem to help keep his blood sugar elevated. 

Trip Distance: 21.38 miles 

Trip Time:  1:30:19

Average Speed: 14.21 mph

Maximum Speed: 25.5 mph 

For some reason though we ride together, there is a slight discrepancy in my odometer and Clay's in previous weeks we have posted mine but it got reset so this week Clay's odometer was the one we had to use this week.  My odometer showed 21.9 miles, but we can't remember all of the other specifics. 

Weekend Ride

On Sunday Clay and I conquered a 17 mile ride,  or close to it.  After a fun day of trying on bridesmaid dresses for an October wedding Clay and I went to the Montour Trail to ride our 17 mile trek - an interesting ride filled with a lot more people than we are used to seeing. 

No hills, but the peddling speed was fairly good and we were NOT worn out after the ride: 

Trip Distance: 16.62 (not exactly 17 because we didn't realize the trail was going to end) 

Trip Time: 1:11:04 

Average Speed: 14:04 mph

Maximum Speed: 21.43 mph 

Not too bad considering the fact that we were peddling the entire time and there were no hills. 

On friday, I completed a power pacing class at the gym - moderately difficult but a great accomplishment considering the first time clay and i tried the class three years ago we weren't able to complete it! 

morning ride

I went out for a ride this morning, seeing that it was 50 degrees, I put a long sleeve shirt tobogan and jacket but figured that my legs would stay warm because of the ride.  I quickly found out due to the fog that it made it much colder than 50 and any exposed skin was covered in dew from the fog.  So after only 3 miles in 18 minutes now cold and wet I came home the shortest way, quickly warmed up dried off and finished the ride inside on the cycle trainer for 25 mins

The Neighborhood

The goal was to ride 20 - 30 minutes at a moderate pace:

Today I took a ride through the neighborhood after work trying to conquer several climbs can prove difficult, but overall it was a good ride.

Total Distance: 5.71 miles

Total Time: 00:28:24

Average Speed: 12.07 mph

Top Speed: 27.39 mph

Not too bad after just completing a 15 mile bike ride yesterday.

First Long Training Ride

We took our bikes to the bike shop for a tune up and to get new tires in preparation for the race. Yesterday was suppose to be our first long training ride, but we delayed it until today based on the temperature outside.  Yesterday's ride would have encompassed 35 degree temperatures where as today we were able to ride in temperatures around 50 degrees.  

One mistake was deciding to ride our local rails-to-trails, which is all gravel.  The first three miles of our ride were pretty smooth, but around mile 4 we started into terrain that was filled with soft mud and larger rocks, not the best situation given the new tires we just had put on our bike.  This affected our time but the ride was a test of our endurance while allowing us to increase our muscle strength.  When we turned around we got on the road at the first available intersection and found it was a lot easier to move at a faster pace even with the uphill climb. Next week's long ride will be on pavement.   

Total Distance:  15.41 miles 

Time: 1:19:15

Average Speed: 11.67 mph 

Maximum Speed: 25 mph 

Deciding to Ride

Last year we decided to start an endeavor of setting physical fitness goals.  It started as an attempt to reduce our cholesterol levels but has turned into a lifestyle.   Our challenge of the spring is riding 50 miles.  

Clay has been an avid bicyclist his entire life, I have become more adventurous riding on the mountain bike trails over the past year.  As a challenge to ourselves we decided that 50 miles would be a great physical challenge.  Through the next few months as we start increasing our distance, we will try to use this blog as a journal.  

Though it was difficult to find a training program for a 50 mile bike ride, we found many for the century ride and revamp them to accommodate our 15 weeks and counting until it ride day. 

We call it a ride because it is the accomplishment of completion not the accomplishment of doing better than another that is the focus of the ride.  We chose to ride in our local Tour de Cure and raise money for diabetes.  Diabetes is a disease that has affected three of my grandparents and led to complications that took the life of both of my grandfathers.  Clay has chosen to do this with me in honor of my grandparents as well as all the other individuals who we know that suffer from diabetes. 

We have currently been riding stationary bikes in order to prepare and keep our riding muscles in shape, but tomorrow we will do our first long ride starting out at 15 miles we will gradually increase for one long ride each week until ride day.  During the week we will do shorter rides of 20 to 30 minutes of varying intensity and inclines.