June is just around the corner

This week has been a rough one. I had Monday off and the weather for a ride but a bug I caught kept me from putting in any time on the bike or trike. It's Thursday now and this bug isn't showing any signs of giving in yet.

Putting in the miles...

Howdy Team Rock Ranch!

Based on the emails it's clear that we have already completed the STP mileage at least one time around as a team. It would be fun to capture total miles covered during the training. Next year we'll have to log miles after January 1st up until the event.

So, anyone thinking about doing the STP in one day next year?

OK, we can take one event at a time. My saddle has worked out great for the 104 miles I road last week. The lack of saddle soreness could be related to being on the bike more often. It wouldn't be fun to lose any ground so I'm thinking about having the bike available at work during lunch to ride around on days I don't ride to work.

A new goal for the first week in June is to ride the bike everyday of one complete week. It doesn't have to be for a long distance just as long as I have at least 30 minutes in the saddle.

Training in the Merry Merry month of May

Joanne and I finished our 50 mile ride today. The weather was great, not too hot not too cold not too windy not too shabby at all!

The real test will be getting on the bikes and riding again tomorrow. I am at 83.5 miles for this week after our ride today. It would be a great motivator to get out tomorrow and ride at least another 16.6 miles to make the 100 miles in one week training goal.

Chances are good for the ride tomorrow. The neck and shoulders are sorry and a knee is stiff but I am not nearly as saddle sore as I expected after 50 miles. More tomorrow :)

Saturday's Lunch Ride

Duane & I rode to Jimmy's on Yelm Highway on Saturday, 5/8. Riding 32 miles total, and helping to reduce the lunch calories by a few hundred! To return home to mow and start weeding the flower gardens. It was a very tiring day, but feels good when we accomplish so much in one day.

Sunday was spent having lunch in Everett with the folks and sister Bev...no riding time this day! Duane is out weed wack'n, and me I'm loading software I got for my Birthday.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women in the world! Peace!

Rubber to the road- I just rode in from Lacey and boy are my arms tired!

Joanne and I did get a chance to ride to work this Thursday (May 6th). Joanne ride her bike and I gave the trike a try. It was 19 miles each way taking the bike trail the majority of the way. It was pretty chilly for the first part of the ride but it warmed up nicely on the way in. My arms wanted to cramp when we first started but they settled down after a few miles.

I departed from work at 4:00 and Joanne left about 4:40. She caught up to me around the 11 mile mark. We shared a Powerbar, had some water and finished out the last 8 miles. We found a rain cloud and got a light soaking for about 2 of the 3 last miles. It was a little refreshing at first but then it got pretty chilly!

We're going to ride to meet mom and dad for lunch today. It will be about 15 miles one way. The weather is really nice today and it's tempting to ride more but yard work will have to come first today. We will both be on two wheelers today. I'm giving my arms a break today!

That's about it from Rainier.

Bugs in the teeth report

It's May already?!

Time sure is going by fast so far this Spring. Joanne and I got a ride in the last week of April (29th). The flat was fixed and I was ready to hit the road... then I decided to try to move the crank arm adjusters up one notch. It didn't work out so good so I raised the seat a few times (even over the max height mark) but couldn't get the right knee to have full rotation. Joanne headed towards Tenino and I headed back to the shop.

The trike was there all aired up and the hand cranks were in the new position (opposite like a bike) so I got the idea to catch up with Joanne on the hand-cycle. Joanne put in 20 miles that day and I got in 15 (ended up 2.5 miles behind Joanne, she made good time).

We're pretty set on riding to work this Thursday (May 6th). Joanne has done that distance several times so she shouldn't have any issues. The ride to work will be about one mile shorter than my longest ride on the trike (Mellow Yellow and I did 21 miles on the trail last year). The test will be how strong I feel riding the same distance back home after work!

I did ride home from work once last year. It took me three hours! I'm pretty sure my average pace will be faster than 6 mph this time. I'd better bring my cell phone just in case...