I’ve entered a contest which mandates riding your bike or trike or unicycle every day from May 15 to June 15.  My route is the same as usual – 11.6 miles each way, so 23.2 miles a day during the week, and whatever I log on weekends.  My weekday rides should come out to at least 464 miles.  Of course, I may get bored with such a short ride once my legs start to adjust, in which case I might go for the 16 mile ride from New Hartford.  Did that once … wasn’t quite ready and was exhausted after it.

Part of the contest is journaling the rides, so I’ll be doing so here.

Today, I practiced more patience and higher cadence.  Until now, I’ve been trying to keep the bike on the hardest gear as much as possible, thinking I was doing myself a favor.  But I started noticing soreness in the tendons or whatever those things are right behind on either side of the knee on Tuesday.  I looked up some riding tips and the advice was the same everywhere I went: use a comfortable gear … your legs will still get strong and they will tell you when it’s time to move to something harder.  Today, I put that theory to the test, and the ride was so fun and beautiful!  It flew by.

My current speed is about 13.3 mph.  My ride is mostly paved, but has maybe a 2 or 3 mile section of easy off-road paths.  There is a new fun obstacle right near the commuter lot in Unionville … a tree came down across the path, along with a tangle of vines.  The only way is over, so you have to grab your bike and hoist it over.  I’m getting pretty good at traversing it, staying constantly moving, constantly moving forward.  I love stuff like that.  I’m not praying for more trees to fall, but this one breaks up the ride a little bit.

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