Week #5 The big snow storm

 

Week #5 - 215 miles

January - 1391 miles

Well I almost got in more hours shoveling snow than I did riding this week. Having a hard time getting motivated to going out in the cold and dealing with the snow. Saturday wasn't a bad day though. I met up with Ean and I got in a little over 80 miles on the gravel. The roads were in pretty good shape with the hardest part is just getting out of town. The side streets are now fairly cleared but there are still a few sections on the trail that didn't get plowed. Hopefully there will be some good melting this week before the next round comes in later in the week. It looks like next weekend it will be really cold and a few more inches of snow predicted. That is a long ways off though.

Week #4 Hit the big 100,000 mile mark!

 

Week #4 - 432 miles

Well it took just over 6 years, but I was able to go over 100,000 miles on Saturday. I wasn't sure if I would get it in this week or not. The weather was good early in the week then it got cold. There was a chance for snow on Saturday, but I didn't think it was going to amount to much. I headed out knowing that I needed 113 miles to finish it off. My plan was to head down the trail and see I felt since I rode 80 miles the day before. Once I got to Beatrice it had begun to snow but I told myself I was committed and go out 60 miles and turn around. This way I could just come into town over the new bridge and not have to go any extra. There was a light wind out of the south but as the snow got deeper it was still slow going on the way back. Not sure what my next big milestone will be. This year the big goal is to finish all 3 big races. I believe I can place well in any of them, but a lot can happen during 24+ hours on the bike - mentally & physically.

Week #3 Well it's still winter

 

Week #3 - 318 miles

We got a bit more snow this week after having a couple of great days early in the week. The big problem this week was the wind on Thursday and Friday, luckily we didn't get any more snow than we did. Saturday I got in 100 miles out around Milford and Seward. Not a ton of climbing, but with the roads still being a little soft, it was slow going. We will have to see how the weather holds out, but I want to get in a 200 mile ride in the next few weeks. Hopefully by IWAR, I can get at least two 200+ milers in the books. I feel that I have things fairly well figured out on what I need to carry with me for these long races. I know that for IWAR a lot will depend on the weather. It would be nice not to have to carry a bunch of extra clothes. Depending on if we can have drop bags or if there will be stores on the way, will determine if I need my rear seat bag. 

Week #2 Thanks Josh for saving the day!

 

Week #2 - 302 miles

A big thanks to Josh for coming to get me when my bottom bracket exploded on my during Saturday's ride. Things were going great and I was riding some of the roads in northeast Lancaster county that I am missing, when about 50 miles into the ride, it  came to an abrupt stop. I guess I will have to plan another day out there. On Sunday I almost finished up the roads in southeast part of the county. After getting home, I did find one road that I missed. It is kind of neat to see some new roads even though they somewhat look like many of the other roads. Hopefully I will be able to get a big part of Gage county done this year. Now that I have a plan, it should be a little easier to obtain. 

Week #52 / #1 Ending on a big year / starting out easy

 

Week #52/1 - 211 miles

December - 1677 miles

Well all I can say is I'm glad it is over! I was able to ride everyday for 2020 and racked up 22,091 miles in the process. I had 68 rides of 100+ miles and 4 of them were over 200 miles. Even though there was only 1 race that happened, I was totally fine with that. After racing for most of my life, having a few months off was good for me. In 2021 there will be some new challenges. I am in the process of finishing up all the roads in Lancaster county and will start to work on Gage next. I have only a little over 1,000 miles to go in order to reach 100,000 Strava miles. In April hopefully will be the first race back. IWAR will be 340ish miles of gravel through Iowa. It should be a good test to see if all these miles paid off.