So many bike routes,,so little time!!!
Yes, I am still training and am finally riding outdoors!! I dusted off my mountain bike and bought a new road bike and am having a blast on both of them.
I bought a book awhile back (5 years ago) on short bike rides in CT. There are 36 bike rides listed spanning all of CT.
I finally put the book to use 2 weeks ago. What can I say, I had to work up to it.
Two weeks ago, our first bike trip had us in Guilford. It's a 20 mile route of which Val did approximately 15 miles and had to stop due to a bike malfunction. Her right pedal came flying off around the 9 mile mark. She managed 6 more miles operating on one pedal and finally had to call it quits. Here's her detailed entry.
From my perspective the high points were:
- Just getting outdoors
- The lovely Guilford Green
- The shoreline/harbor
- Conquering Stepstone Hill Rd
- Snacks
- Horse we petted along the way
Low points:
- Val's pedal
- Mid point Step Stone Hill Rd - very steep
- My kickstand falling off
- Riding the last leg of the route solo to get car and pick up the one pedaled wonder
This past Sunday we decided Val decided she wanted to do a 38 mile combination route. Yes, from 20 miles to 38 miles in one week!! This had us back in Guilford and included a route through Madison-Hammonasset. Again, see Val's entry for details.
It was tougher then anticipated, partly due to the heat. Val doesn't do well in heat and was dripping buckets pretty much the entire ride.
I barely ever sweat. A bead of sweat appears on my temple on those very rare occasions. Wondering if it's a glandular issue?? I'm just thankful the heat was a non factor for me.
We did 32 of the 38 miles because we Val decided to cut a loop out of the ride. We had spent enough time on the bikes and butts were screaming.
In total, we were on our bikes for close to 7 hours. Sounds like an awful long time to have gone 32 miles. There were definitely a number of breaks throughout the ride so I guess those were our downfall.
High Points:
- Playing outside
- Hammonasset State Park
- Nature building
- Liberty Street - beautiful street leading to beach, homes to die for
- DQ
- Defeating Step Stone Hill Rd a 2nd time!!
- No flying bike parts
- 32 miles
Low Points
- Sore butt, neck & shoulders
- Heat
- Not finishing
- Not enough shade
I am looking forward to many more bike excursions with Val. I only wish we could ride year round!
