Raise One For Anne

As the Sun rose over Columbus this morning Lisa and I headed out for a 60+ mile ride. Today was about testing our legs on the bikes we will use for 165 miles in just 6 weeks. My bike needs some tuning and we both have a bit of work to do prep wise. We mixed in some gravel path in the first third  of the ride. We’ll have 40+ miles of gravel path and road on the Big Ride. Our gravel pace was pretty good. Once again, I’m fired as a navigator. An errant turn 25 miles in added about 3 miles to our route. That’s not horrible but when the temperatures went past 80F, it would have been nice to be that much closer to home. (Amber Waves of Grain: side benefit of a wrong turn.) As we ticked over to mile 60, about 3 miles from home, Lisa asked, “Are you ready for 100 more?” “Sure...” (You would ride faster if this ugly mug was chasing you.) After 63 miles, another training ride was in the books. Our overall pace was good. If we could maintain that for 11 hours, we’ll be in great shape. Please take

Lisa needs a little time off the bike so I ventured out by myself on Saturday. (See? No one in front of me.) Odd winds, for OH in June, out of the East gave me a tiny push on my way out. Tailwinds are always nice but nicer on the way home.  I rode out to London, OH and failed at finding where the Ohio to Erie Trail picks back up so I got a crappy tour of the town before getting back on the trail heading East. And to start riding into the wind that was picking up.  By the time I exited the trail(about 47 miles into my ride) to take the roads back home, I was running low on water and every flag I saw was stiff and pointing to the West. How strong was the wind? At one point I went around a bend doing 17+mph and turned into the headwind. New speed? 14.5. Another time, while watching my heart rate climb trying to maintain pace on a flat stretch of road, I yelled, “F@*k!” at the top of my lungs. It helped. (This old hand pump at the Battelle Darby Creek Metropark fille