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May 27, 2006
40 Mile Birthday Ride
Great ride this morning! The last time I was at the bike store, the bike guy suggested I try riding the Red Belt. Pittsburgh has a "belt system" but trust me folks, it's no beltway like Washington DC! Basically our belt system involves a hodgepodge collection of country roads that someone linked together on a map. They determined it would be a good way to relieve congestion on the main highways. Um yeah. Nobody is really going to use back roads with speed limits of 25 MPH when they can drive on big highways and go 80 MPH.
Anyway, the Red Belt starts near our house and once the bike guy suggested it I thought it was a great idea. They are back roads with not too much traffic and I could easily follow the Red Belt signs for a nice long ride without worrying about getting lost.
This time I took Gatorade Endurance and Clif Shot Bloks for my nutrition and fluids and I think it made a big difference. I felt much better today than last Saturday. Of note, there was much less wind this time and it was warmer, but this ride was much hillier than last weekend's. I rode out 20 miles and then just turned around and came back for 40 miles on the nose. And it really was a great ride. One of the things I really like about running is getting to explore new places and see different areas that you otherwise wouldn't have seen if you didn't run there. Well multiply that by 10 for biking. You just get so much farther! I rode through some very beautiful farm country and thought how beautiful God's creation really is!
There were some significant hills on today's ride. Because I didn't really know what I was in for I started getting a little scared in the middle when I was riding up and down some monsters and wondering if it was ever going to flatten out again. But it did. And on my way back I actually saw the bike guy from the bike store riding! :)
Anyway, the ride took about 2:20 and I averaged just over 17 MPH. I'll take it!
Now O and I are going to start some serious yard work. We have a jungle growing in the back yard - the weeds are starting to gain strength and look poised for a coup! :)
Posted by beth at May 27, 2006 12:36 PM
Comments
Sorry I missed your golden birthday by a day, but I'm glad to hear that you had a good ride. I hope you have another great year!
Posted by: Alison at May 28, 2006 7:12 PM