Bicycle 300 miles in March

March is long gone.

After Easter I went out a few more times, my total for the month was 101.80

I didn’t make it to 300, but 229 miles is by far the most I’ve ever ridden in one month, so I’m still proud.

I tried to finish the month strong with two rides this last weekend, but on Saturday I got a flat, and on Sunday I got snowed out

What’s the goal for April?

3/30: 7.5 on the &%$#@ stationary bike at the hotel here so far. If I manage to put on more, I’ll just edit this entry rather than add a new one.

I saw that there’s a company that does bike tours of DC – too bad it’s forecasted to rain and I have no rain gear with me.

Pathetic number of miles this week, and I probably won’t ride today as I need to prep for my trip to DC and I feel like I’m coming down with something.

If I’m lucky, I’ll be feeling better, will put some miles on the stationary bike at the hotel, and maybe (maybe) get it up to 250 by the end of the month :-(

Yesterday I wasn’t patient enough for the rain to stop, so I spent a couple hours on the trainer. It was long enough for me to watch the Fellowship of the Rings get out of Moria :) I’ll call that 30 miles.

This morning I did a fast RAMIOM (16 mph) on the way to work…20 miles total. My contact lens popped out twice, it must have been the cold air and the speed. That’s never happened on a ride before. Luckily I was able to get it back in both times (using water bottle water!)

I must have tweaked something in my knee because it’s a little sore when I bend it. Luckily I don’t have any rides planned for the next few days.

We had a white Easter! It seldom ever snows around here so whenever we have a little bit of snow everyone comes out walking/cycling to enjoy it. I rode my bike the park to admire all the snow building going on there, mostly snowman but some animals and structures such as a fort and tower. My contribution to the madness was a small snowdog.

This is a mileage estimate based on time, since I didn’t trust the mileage meters on the stationary bikes in the cruise ship gym. If I believe those, I did more like 36 miles rather than 25 miles on those infernal machines.

I also did the complete round of weight lifting machines each time I used the bikes. My core and upper body strength was not as bad as I feared. At the same time, they could use more work. And I believe for me, core and upper body strength at this point is at the heart of me doing longer distance (over 200 miles) riding. Since I have a tour coming up mid-July, I should continue to work on these so I do not suffer too terribly then.

Short version: 12.5 miles at the gym.

Long version: And to think last week I was cycling and hiking in short sleeves wearing shades and sun block under skies so clear and blue. Sigh. Back in England the weather has been horrible, I’ve been lacking any motivation to go out and face the rain wind and cold. Since it was raining again yesterday I took a bold step and went to the gym! There is one at this sports complex I swim most weekdays. First time I’ve been to a gym! Wow I was so excited on my way there! I very much doubt I’ll return but one never knows. It turns out the gym is really big and it has huge TVs (each showing a different channel) and very loud music. Luckily I had my mobile phone + earplugs with me so with my volume at maximum I was almost able to block their annoying music with some of my own. I never ride my bike listening to music and found pedalling the different rhythms a bit confusing. Well I suppose it’s a matter of finding the right music or getting used to it. Another thing was the stationary bike, it felt all wrong. If I was determined to enjoy the place I could get used to the bike. Well, perhaps if they had bikes facing the window I could look out to the trees than maybe I might consider returning. But no, they all face these huge TV screens. I’ve been living for many years without a TV and yesterday I could see I’m really not use to TVs anymore; all that imagery was very tiring, it was worse than being inside a TV shop. But I could talk to someone and turn a bike to the window if I was that inclined to return. But to be honest, I found the whole experience of pedalling indoors very boring. Stationary exercise is really not for me. I love the fresh air, the sights, the speed (my own)... it’s not just the exercise; it’s the whole experience of being out and about. To finish this goal I would have to cycle about 23 miles a day for the next 10 days. It’s not impossible but it’s very unlikely since I don’t want to face the rain and won’t be returning to the gym. There is the time limit as well, since it takes me almost 2 hours to cycle 23 miles. Well, I’m curious to see how far I’ll go :)

I haven’t been keeping track, but I think I’ve gotten 50 miles during the weekdays—10-15 miles a day, 4-5 days a week.

March is a crazy month—skiing/snowshoeing is just ending, climbing is just starting, and biking and hiking go on all year of course. So there’s lots of competing things to do on the weekends.