Monday Club Ride

After work, I was able to join the Owensboro Bicycle Club ride at Panther Creek park. My legs were a little sore, but not too bad. I took it easy on the first lap and was cruising through the second when a group came up on me and the 2 women I was riding with and the race was on. Well, not really a race, but the pace definitely picked up. We were going about 20-21 mph with 6 of us in a pace line. It felt good and not too difficult. It nice to see progress in my conditioning. This time last year, I wouldn't have been able to keep up that pace for 5 miles, but tonight I did and wasn't that winded. We wrapped up the evening with Meatball Madness at Fazolis. I had 5 breadsticks to go with my meatballs. Yum!!!

Today's Mileage: 20.7 miles
2008 YTD Mileage: 319.1 miles
Miles to reach 2008 goal of 750 miles: 430.9
Avg Price of Gas in the 'boro: $3.94

New Route, New Riding partner

Early this morning, REALLY early this morning, I joined my friend Greg for a ride. Greg usually trains in the mornings before work and I would like to train with him more because he is a strong runner and rider, but that morning thing is tough for me. For some reason, I decided to join him today. We met at his church and rode south on Sutherland Rd to the T, hung a left and took that road towards Hwy 231. Then we turned around and came back. Sutherland road is part of the Bellevue Biathlon course and is nice and flat. The other road we turned on had a few hills, but nothing too bad. It was a nice ride and I'd definitely do it again. I liked riding with Greg, too and I know I'll only get stronger the more I ride with him.

Today's Mileage: 20.7 miles
2008 YTD Mileage: 298.4 miles
Miles to reach 2008 goal of 750 miles: 451.6
Avg Price of Gas in the 'boro: $3.93

OBC Monday Night Ride




I joined the Monday night ride at Panther Creek. I took last week off after the triathlon and my mom's visit. It was good to be back with the group and we had good weather for the ride. We took off and I did one lap of the hills and then another flat lap. My legs were sore or tired, but I survived and still average 17.1 mph. The other good news is that the Owensboro Bike Club jerseys are in!!! They are available at Quality Bike Shop for all who order them. Here's what they look like:

There was also an article in today's M-I about Bike Lanes. We had funding available and the city passed on it because they had to study it some more and the engineering dept placed restrictions on the width of roads that could have lanes. I think that was a bad idea to leave money on the table. However, our very own Claudia Roberts is trying to organize a rally at the City Commission on the 3rd Tuesday of July. All bikers are encouraged to show up and show the City Commission that we want safe bike lanes throughout the city, not just the Greenbelt and that bike riders are not all drunks who have lost their licenses, but actually students, professionals, and active people who enjoy safely riding around the Big O.

Today's Mileage: 23 miles
2008 YTD Mileage: 277.7 miles
Miles to reach 2008 goal of 750 miles: 472.3
Avg Price of Gas in the 'boro: $3.90

Lakewood Valley Triathlon 2.0
Whenever there is a new version of software or a sequel to a great movie, you always hope it will be bug-free or better than the last one. Well, this was my second year doing the local triathlon and I can say that my performance was better than last year, by over 22 minutes!!!

The Owensboro YMCA put on the Lakewood Valley triathlon today in Whitesville, KY, about 12 miles outside of Owensboro. The event is a 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike ride, and then a 3.1 mile run. Again, this year, I was lucky enough to have my mom down here to visit and cheer me on, along with some fellow triathletes. She is also attending the Intl Mystery Writers Festival this week in the Big O.

We had quite a bit of rain and storms last night, but this morning was cool and slightly overcast. The race temp was about 73 degrees F and the calm lake was warm - about 80 degrees. The sun did come out later on the bike and run, but still not too hot. The swim was long and wet. At least I didn't feel like I was dying when I got out of the water. There is a 1/4 mile uphill run to the bike transition, though, which might make you wish you were dead!

Last year, I was unprepared for the "rolling hills" on the bike and a couple times had to get off the bike and rest a bit. Not this year, though. I stayed on the bike the whole way and improved my time by over 10 minutes. Check out this link to see the route and the elevation changes - Rolling hills, very few flats, some steep grades, beautiful countryside. That description about sums it up. I may have been a little worn out from the bike, because my run was slower than I hoped, but still better than last year. When I left T2, I still had a chance to meet my goal of under 2 hours finish, but I just didn't have enough left for the run and came in with a final overall time of 2:04:23. All in all, I felt good afterwards and will be ready for the next challenge, which will be in Racine, WI in July.

Today's Mileage: 15.1 miles
2008 YTD Mileage: 254.7 miles
Miles to reach 2008 goal of 750 miles: 495.3
Avg Price of Gas in the 'boro: $3.90

Back in the Saddle

Monday I figured, I had to get back on the bike, so I rode to work. It is still hot here and it's early June. Oh well, there's not much I can do about it. The ride home felt a little labored. I'm not sure if that is because of the metric century on the weekend or the hot, humid weather.

Next up is my first triathlon of the year - Lakewood Valley. Last year this was my first ever and it was pretty good. I'm hoping to improve on last year's time, since I complete 2 other sprint tri's and am in better shape than last year. Once again, my mom will be coming down from Wisconsin to watch the triathlon and then enjoy the Mystery Writers's Festival next week. Wish me luck!!!

Today's Mileage: 3.3 miles
2008 YTD Mileage: 239.6 miles
Miles to reach 2008 goal of 750 miles: 510.4
Avg Price of Gas in the 'boro: $3.96

First Century (metric)!!!

Today was the Big Rivers chapter of the American Red Cross Ride for the Red. I felt rushed getting there, but I was ready to ride at 7:30am when we took off. The weather was hot and windy! Temps were in the mid-to-high 80's and winds were 14-18 mph. It felt like the wind was in our face most of the ride. The first SAG stop ran out of water and Gatorade, but the other 3 were well-stocked, thank goodness!

Somehow, I managed to average 15 mph and my ride time was 4 hours and 9 minutes. With all the SAG stops, I was done in about 5 hours and enjoying water and burgers at Waymond Morris Park. I felt okay after the ride. We'll see how I am tomorrow. I'm ready for a nap, now!!! Next week is my first triathlon of the season - Lakewood Valley.

Today's Mileage: 62.2 miles
2008 YTD Mileage: 236.3 miles
Miles to reach 2008 goal of 750 miles: 513.7
Avg Price of Gas in the 'boro: $3.88

Monday Night Ride

I joined the regular ride tonight at Panther Creek Park. I only did one lap, but it was kinda fast. I started out really fast averaging over 21 mph, but that only last about 3.5 miles. Still kept a good rhythm going, though. Still maintained a 17.5 average mph.

Coming up Saturday is the Big Rivers Ride for the Red - a fundraiser for the local Red Cross Chapter. If you haven't signed up yet, do! It's a nice ride with many different distances to choose from. I'm going for 62 miles this year. i hope the rain stays away and the humidity, too.

Today's Mileage: 12.6 miles

2008 YTD Mileage: 174.1 miles

Miles to reach 2008 goal of 750 miles: 575.9

Avg Price of Gas in the 'boro: $3.88