54 Days left

54 Days left

May 22, 2006 Monday

It has been a rough training time. We had rain for about 10 days and it was quite cold. I didn’t get much training during this time. I did get going again over the weekend. On Saturday I rode around Coxville. Rode from Coxville and around some of my ancestor’s places. I will put the pictures on the blog later. This ride had a lot of hills and I spent a lot of time pushing the bike up hills. I passed a pack of dogs at one time. About 10-12 dogs. It is always scary when this happens. You just don’t know what they are going to do. This ride was 5.23 miles.

On Sunday I rode past Pa’s farm and then on past several ancestor Cottrell places. This ride had a lot more blacktop than yesterday which was all gravel. It was cooler than yesterday and I wore a sweat shirt. This was 15 miles.

68 Days left

68 Days left

5/8/2006 10:32 PM Monday

No ride today. I rode on Saturday and Sunday and I thought I would take today off.

I still haven’t heard from RAIN. I thought that they might read their email over the weekend. Guess not.

Today is Liza’s birthday. She is 3.

69 Days left

69 Days left

5/7/2006 8:13 PM Sunday

I rode 18.31 miles today. I started at home and rode north. I crossed 63 and followed CR 300. I stopped and watched the Norton Creek for a while. Continuing on I took some picture of a landscape. I rode north until the road stopped. I then went east on CR 800 S. then north on 275 E. to 775 S. I went east on 775 and crossed 63 and on to Alta. Just outside of Alta I was confronted by two dogs. I could see them about a ¼ mile ahead just standing in the road looking at me. I thought this might be my downfall but I kept going. When I got close one of the dogs came running to me but did nothing except try to lay his head on my foot as it came around on the pedals. It was weird but it was better than him trying to bite me.

I rode south on a little used rode paralleling 63. At least I thought it was little traveled. I rode for a while and stopped to take a drink. A car came up behind me and a car approached from the other direction. The car behind me stopped and then the other car stopped beside the one behind me. They talked for a while and then the one passed me. I traveled on and met another car.

I stayed on the road and smelled a most wonderful smell. It was black locust blossoms. Beautiful smell.

I went west to 63. I got on 63 and rode on the shoulder to home. It was not too bad riding on 63 but the shoulder was a little hard to ride on. I was not able to get up the speed I thought I would have. There was loose gravel along the shoulder that made riding a little stressful. I had to concentrate on the road to make sure I did not spill. The traffic did not bother me as I thought it would.

70 Days left

70 Days left

5/6/2006 8:20 PM Saturday

Today I rode. No expectations. No goals. Just a ride. It was the most enjoyable ride this year. The ride across Indiana has been messing with my enjoyment. I decided yesterday that I may not do the ride across Indiana and that made the difference. So this is the way it is going to be…I may or may not do the ride across Indiana. If I do the ride I may or may not finish. I will do what I can. I had planned to build up to a 160 mile ride but I am not going to do that either. I got the bike to ride for enjoyment and if I become obsessive about it, it fails to serve the purpose for which I got it. I like to ride and sometimes stop and look at the birds or flowers. I like to ride slow and maybe sometimes a little faster. I probably don’t have many more rides left so I just want to enjoy them.

I rode about 12 miles today. I stopped and watched some birds at the wetlands south of town. I didn’t see any eagles today and really there were not many birds out. I guess I was later than I should have been. My watch stopped and it was later than I thought. I rode on down the road and tried to ride up Syndicate Hill. Made it about half way up and had to walk the rest. I rode on past Bella Lakes and stopped to see Terry Lewis. He is building a new house and he gave ma a tour. I left and traveled on seeing some birds along the way after that. Bluebird, Indigo bunting and some other song birds that I could not identify. I rode on up to Hazel Bluff road and across and on to 163 and across. I rode on to 63 and stopped. I got on to 63 (along the shoulder) and rode down to Pike Street. It was weird to have cars pass me going 60 MPH.

I enjoyed the ride.

71 Days left

71 Days left

5/5/2006 10:25 PM Friday

Well…I didn’t ride today. I intended to ride but I was going to mow first. After mowing I was not in any condition to ride. I am just taking too long to recover from such things. I am beginning to think I will not be able to make the ride. I will see how it goes in the next few days.

72 Days left

72 Days left

5/4/2006 7:08 PM Thursday

Had a ride of 3.74 miles today. I intended to have a much longer ride but after about a mile I realized that the layoff time had taken a toll. My legs started to tighten up and so I decided to reduce the length of my ride. I had intended to go across 63 and out into the open spaces but with the problem I had I stayed around home and rode up and down and around the streets near home. After about two and a half miles my legs began to relax and I continued on for another mile.

I haven’t heard anything from RAIN yet about a situation of bringing up the rear of the pack during the ride.

74 Days left

74 Days left

5/2/2006 9:27 PM

No ride today.

This is getting to be a habit. I mowed the yard. It really needed to be mowed. I also had to rake but I could only do the front. Riding that mower seems like I am being jiggled until my vertebrae are compressed. I then have to go in a stretch out on the floor to uncompress. I get stiff but after about 30 to 45 minutes I am fine.

I emailed RAIN yesterday to find out how they treat the biker at the back of the pack. Haven’t heard anything yet.

I am hoping to ride tomorrow.

75 Days left

75 Days left

5/1/2006 7:38 PM

No ride today.

The weather is not good for riding. It has rained and is cold. Tomorrow is supposed to be better but I may have to mow the yard. The neighbor mowed while we were gone but it needs to be mowed again. I also have a lot of office work piled up from when I was gone. Training is a full time job and I already have too many jobs…mowing, real estate, planting flowers, opening pool to name a few. Boo hoo hoo.