the Way of the Turtle

ON THE WAY TO A NEW RECORD...
14.5 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Friday, November 18, 2016

Managed to get to the trailhead early enough that I was able to do much of my ride without lights... a rare opportunity over the next few months. I'd been hoping for warmer conditions - it was up in the high 50's today - but there was a damp chill in the air, and because the sky was clear it cooled down very rapidly as the sun set. Still, my legs were much more cooperative than last night, and overall it was a fairly pleasant ride for a November evening.

Tonight I also surpassed my previous record (at least since I've been keeping track, which is about 9 years now) for miles ridden during the year... for a long time I'd end the year with around 1000-1100 miles, but I really ramped that up when I tore my knee up in 2013... couldn't run much, so I did a lot of walking and riding that year. My biggest year previously was 2014, when I trained for and rode the Maine Lighthouse Century ride... I barely managed to squeak past 2000 miles that year with a late December ride in a sleet storm. This year I've topped that with six weeks to go... that might be partly due to the warm winter we had last season (I'd ridden 100 miles by the beginning of March, usually my slowest months of the year to accumulate mileage) and partly because I did a lot of short and medium length rides, which are easier on the legs and the psyche than long hauls. In any case, barring a sudden outbreak of awful weather, I shouldn't have much trouble racking up at least another 1oo miles over the next six weeks.

Of course, in 2014 I didn't think I'd have any trouble hitting 2000 miles after I'd done the century ride... and I ended up only just barely making it by going for a late December ride in a sleet storm. So what do I know?

JMH