April showers bring excuses

Well, the rain has been coming and going, as have the after-work responsibilities of my old and my new jobs. These things - combined with my general couch-potatoness - have lent to my inability to start training as vigorously as I'd like; but, all excuses aside, I was able to get in a great morning ride at the end of last week. It was my first of two days off between my former and my new job, and the weather was wonderful if not a little breezy, so I threw my bike onto the back of my station wagon and headed into Forest Park. I split my time between the roads inside the park and the bike path in an effort to start building my confidence off-trail. Thanks to my new Take-A-Look mirror helmet adapter (and the relatively low volume of traffic on a late Thursday morning), the short amount of time that I did decide to ride on the park roads wasn't as terrifying as I initially anticipated. You have to keep in mind, I'm very much the amateur cyclist, and I like to ride with a buddy if at all possible, so riding along side cars for the first time - and ALONE - felt like a very big step. In the end, no injuries to report, I felt a lot less winded than my first ride of the season, and it was great honoring myself with the respect and the time to go out for this ride. I had every best intention to write it up after I got in, but things got in the way - so it goes.

04/17 Ride Wrap-Up:
Dist: 10.36 miles
Avg: 12.4 mph
Mx: 25.8 mph - hit top gear several times, but the downhills helped
Time: 49.57

I did get the chance to ride yesterday, and for the first time, I didn't shuttle my bike to a trail to get started - I left right from my front driveway! I'll say it was a bit harrowing to cross through busy intersections and ride up and down Clayton Road on a Saturday afternoon, but again, overall it was another exercise in confidence as the road riding forced me to be even more alert, all while tackling some big hills (which many trails have allowed me to avoid thus far). I have to say, I came off this ride - albeit a short one - quite exhilarated since I didn't let the afore mentioned hills get the better of me, and I have really started to notice an improvement in my endurance. This gives me at least a decent reason to hope that I'll be able to make it through, at minimum, the shorter 22 mile option for next weekend's Bike MS Kick-Off ride.

04/26 Ride Wrap-Up:
Dist: 12.52 miles
Avg: 11.4 mph
Mx: 24.5 mph
Time: 1.05.45

I would have liked to do a recoup flat trail ride today, but rain is in the forecast, and I don't even own a windbreaker, so I'll be walking the dog twice instead. I'm sure he'll appreciate it, and besides, it will be the perfect way to ensure it doesn't rain!

Weekend Warrior?

Despite the "dry spell" on this site since my last posting, we have recently had nothing but rain, rain, and more rain here in St. Louis which had put my training on hold. But, we had a gorgeous and precip-free weekend which left no excuse not to hit the pavement.

My bike needed a tune-up before the inaugural ride of the year, so my husband and I headed out to St. Charles on Saturday morning to drop off the bike at Granada and visit my folks in the meantime. We all decided to have lunch down on Main Street at our knew favorite St. Chuck restaurant, The Vine. We new we were in for some delicious patio-served food, but we did NOT anticipate to be flanked by tens upon tens of bagpipers and other kilt-clad men. Apparently this weekend was the annual Missouri Tartan Day Festival. Who knew? While I did not drink a Scotch Ale of any sort, I did celebrate with an ice cream cone. Yum!

But back to business. My first ride of the season finally took place on Sunday afternoon on the scenic (and heavily populated) Grant's Trail. It is beautiful, and paved, and flat for that matter - which I am always a big fan of - but the round trip was just shy of 16 miles. Now, my 59-year-old dad seemed to have no problem with it whatsoever. It was a different story for me, with me painfully struggling on the last 3 mile stretch to keep an average of 10 mph. Pathetic, I know. "Maybe a wiser person would have chosen a less aggressive kick-off ride," say my ass and legs a day later. I had grand plans to take my camera along with me to document the occasion, and get some photos of the Clydesdale breeding farm that the trail runs along side of at the western portion, but my battery was dead. I did, however, manage to wheeze out a few bars of the Budweiser song as I passed by!

All in all, a great, but ambitious ride. I'm feeling it today, and definitely don't see myself hopping on the bike until Tuesday afternoon at the earliest. I'd like to ride at least twice this week, since this upcoming weekend is completely consumed by work-related commitments. Bummer.

04/06 Ride Wrap-Up:
Dist: 15.84 miles
Avg: 12.1 mph
Mx: 19.6 mph - never even hit top gear :(
Time: 1.18.05