Week #51 A new beginning

 

Week #51 - 390 miles

Well this start a new chapter for me since I am officially retired and just turned 54. I am not sure the goal is going to ride more miles, but I do plan on having a few more adventures out on the bike. Saturday I met with some folks out at Wilderness Park. I ended up riding 63 miles on the Kona and today I got in 102 miles in the cold and wind. Luckily I did have a tailwind for the second half of the ride but getting down past Beatrice was a challenge. Lots of trees down on the trail from the storm the other day. It will probably take a bit of time to get them all removed. Next week will probably be an easy week since I will be in western Nebraska for part of it. The last week of the year I may try to get in one more big ride, but we will have to see how the weather holds out.

Week #50 20,000+ miles YTD

 

Week #50 - 363 miles

Well I got over 20,000 miles for the second year in a row. This year I wasn't trying to get in as many miles as last year and I am actually about 1,000 miles behind. Most of my training isn't very structured, but I just end up putting in lots of miles over the weeks. Being consistent and riding everyday helps keep the miles up. I know that I am not as fast as I was a few years ago but my endurance base is so much higher. I also am more mentally prepared to go out and spend all day in the saddle. With this in mind, I might try to get the Rapha Festive 500 done in one day if the weather cooperates. 

Week #49 Less than one month to go for 2021!

 

Week #49 - 443 miles

Less than on month to go and closing in on 20,000 miles. In the past 3 years I will have rode over 60,000 miles which averages around 56 miles per day. Not a bad achievement for an old guy. The weather is still holding out but slowly getting a little colder. We will see how long before the snow actually arrives. Saturday was a little chilly at the start but the wind wasn't that bad. I headed down to Beatrice to stop in and get some donuts before coming home. I was planning on getting in a few more miles but I settled for 107 for the day. If the weather will cooperate, I may try to complete the Rapha 500 in one day before the end of the year. It would be a great training ride for Snowball 550.

Week #48 Kansas turkeys out on the gravel

Week #48 - 353 miles

Got to spend a few days riding in Kansas and it was nice to find some new roads down there. Spent Thanksgiving day riding with Joe and Greg while meeting up with a group ride out of Bonner Springs. Some good hills over in that area. The last couple of days I was able to meet up with Hannah to find a few new roads around Lawrence. It was kind of nice to have a bit of a down week after rolling over 19,000 miles for the year earlier in the week. The weather continues to be nice even though it's almost December. I am afraid when it does turn, it may be bad, let's just hope not.

 

Week #47 Tour de Plains GRVL Challenge

Week #47 - 403 miles

Getting the Tour de Plains GRVL Challenge closer to becoming a reality. This week we started to putting together a website along with the other social media I have up. Hopefully Lauf will be able to come onboard as a sponsor along with Cantu Wheels. No matter what happens the big plan is to raise some money for the Randy Gibson Memorial Fund and ride a bunch of miles.

It also sound like there is going to be a big ride happening in February now - Snowball 550. This is going to be the second version of Cannonball 550 which happens in September. I hope it will be a great training ride for getting ready for IWAR in April.

Saturday was such a beautiful day I kind of wished I would have rode a few more miles. Got in 101 miles and they were really easy miles. Tomorrow I should roll over 19,000 miles for the year. I shouldn't have a problem getting in 20K for the year. It will be nice to go to Kansas later this coming week and get in some miles down there. Thursday should be day #700!

 

Week #46 Cranksgiving Ride

 

Week #46 - 425 miles

An early start to Saturday's ride. Headed over to Omaha at 3am to meet up at Bike Masters for their group ride. It was quite chilly at the start with a bit of a headwind once I got off the trail. By the time we started the group ride the wind had switched from the northwest to the southwest so I had a headwind on the way home. It was nice to get some new roads in over by Omaha with a good group of folks. On the way home I ran into Ben Kospa out on the roads. We had a good ride back into town. Looks like we are going to have a couple really nice days coming up so hopefully I can get in some good miles while the weather lasts.

Week #45 Less than 2K to go

 

Week #45 - 363 miles

Got over 18K, so 20K should be doable for 2021. On Saturday it was nice to get back down to Beatrice and have a couple donuts at Sunrise Bakery. Always a nice break midride. The weather has been really nice the last couple days after some rough windy days in the middle of the week. I ended up taking Wednesday afternoon off because I was so tired. Not sure if it was from the booster shot or that I just hadn't had a little break in such a long time. Hopefully the weather will keep holding out for a little bit longer. Now that it will be getting dark so much earlier, riding in the wet and cold isn't something I really look forward to.