Week #42 18K and counting

 

Week #42 - 400 miles

Saturday I rolled over 18,000 miles for the year. So I have basically averaged 428 miles a week for 2020 so far. I also got in my 57th ride of 100+ miles. As the weather begins to turn, it is getting harder and harder to keep motivated. This week I have been still really tired and actually came home on Friday and didn't go back out for my afternoon ride. Saturday I got in 101 miles and it was slow with my legs feeling dead for most of the ride. Now today I did feel a bit better and by midweek the weather is supposed to warm up a bit. My goal for next Saturday is to get in 120+ miles to finish off the month. Hopefully it will happen! Right now I am at 94,870 Strava miles, so it is looking like it will be end of January or first part of February before I hit 100,000 miles. I will top 2019 mileage this week. There is still a chance I can hit 22,000 miles for the year, but I will be super happy just to get over 20K. 

Week #41 Still in recovering mode and staying consistent

 

Week #41 - 413 miles

This week was my 27th week of 400+ miles for 2020 and I am up to 18 consecutive weeks now. I will admit that my legs (and the rest of my body) are a bit tired some days. This year I have been trying to see how far I can push it and still stay healthy and injury free. There is a fine line that can be easily crossed at times. Riding every day has been a fairly easy accomplishment so far. Getting in 100+ mile ride in each week (except for one week) has been a little more challenging task. 

This Saturday was a little harder to get out the door, but doing an out and back on the trail to Beatrice is probably the easiest 100 miler to get in. As the weather changes, things get a little harder some days, but once you are out on the bike things usually only get better. I know that all of this hard work, volume, and consistency in training will pay off next year when racing gets back going.

Week #40 Recovering and a trip to Marysville with donuts

Week #40 - 454 miles

It took me a while to recover this week from my mountain bike excursion last Saturday. The swelling in my arm finally went down on Thursday but it's still a bit sore today. Saturday I made the trip down to Marysville, Kansas and stopped in to get donuts at Sunrise Bakery in Beatrice. It is kind of funny now that the ladies in the bakery know me and ask how my ride is going. The trail was in good shape and I didn't have to deal with much wind on the way back. It was a little breezy but I thought it might even be worse as the day went on. Today I took a short trip through Wilderness Park and the leaves are changing and the trails are in good shape. My arm was still sore hitting all of the bumps out there. I definitely need a suspension fork if I am going to do any longer rides on Ms. Kona. A couple milestones this week - rolled over 17K for the year and over 96K on Strava. It would have been cool if I would have been able to get to 100K this year, but it will be something to look forward to in 2021.

 

Week #39 VDP 100 miler w/ Ms. Kona

 

Week #39 - 403 miles

September - 1801 miles

Probably one of the harder rides I have done this year was completing 100 miles in Van Dorn Park on a 1.4 mile loop. I was fairly consistent all day until the last couple of hours. Tried to hold around 2 hours for each 25 miles. Things were good until around mile 80 where my forearms started to get real sore, especially my left arm. I was probably more worried about my saddle giving me problems than not using a suspension fork. Also never ridden that far on a mountain bike may have contributed to it. I finished in 8:08:01 moving time / 8:12:28 elapsed time /12.3 mph avg. Probably could have got under 8 hours if I would of had some folks to ride with. One of the hardest things was to keep concentrating on when to push it and when you could relax. There are only a couple of longer sections on the trail, so most of the time you are go or coming out of a turn. I think the next big adventure on the mountain bike will be a 100 miler in Wilderness Park, but not for awhile!