Site-seeing/endurance ride - 38.8 miles
Mostly dirt roads on mountain bike
Left 1:20 pm, Returned 4:40 pm -- total time 3 h 20 m
Route
- Leg 1: Started at gas station at corner of Main & William. S. Main to Ann Arbor Saline; right at Saline Water Works; right on Noble; left on Weber; all the way to the very end of Weber; right on Steinbach; cross Pleasant Lake, continue on Steinbach; right on Ellsworth; left on Parker; right on Scio Church; right on Strieter; left on Waters; (visit Pat); right on Gensley; left on Pleasant Lake; right on Zeeb; left on Textile; left on Ann Arbor Saline; continue on Wagner; right on Scio Church, back into town; left on Seventh, left on Lutz, right onto Crest & home.
Stats
- Leg 1: 38.8 miles; 3 h 14 m on bike
Totals
- 38.8 miles
- 3 h 14 m on bike
- avg speed 12 mph
Food and water intake
Drank about 4 48 oz bottles of water on Saturday; I didn't think I was going to be able to ride today, so I left before I had drunk as much water as I normally would have; drank two 20 oz bottles of power drink I got from the bike shop; also drank about 66 oz of water during ride; when returned, drank another 20 oz of power drink.
On Saturday, pancake breakfast and carb & protein lunch (eggs, tuna, and whole wheat bread); chicken & broccoli for dinner. On Sunday, pancake breakfast, and egg salad sandwich right before ride; ate two quarters of a PB&J sandwich while on the bike; ate two bananas while on bike; ate something (forget what) with carbs when I got back; dinner which was potato-based.
Interesting happenings
Stopped off at Pat McCormick's house for a few minutes. Met his wife Sarah and his dogs Snowy and Jiggs for the first time. Didn't see many bikers out on this route (not surprisingly). Saw one road biker, and two or there mountain bikers. Noticed that a bunch of the farms that I saw were impeccably cared-for. It was really pretty impressive, considering how much work farmers have to do, never mind building maintenance!
Impressions of ride
Didn't have any expectations going into this ride because I'd decided to make it a pleasure ride. My road bike is in the shop, so the mountain bike was all I had. The mountain bike is not wired with a cyclometer, so I never had any idea of how far I'd gone. My only measure was how long I'd been on the bike. I aimed to stay on as long as I thought was reasonable before taking a break.
Despite being on a heavy bike with knobby tires and riding over bumpy dirt roads, I did not tire much for a very long time. At the two hour mark, I stopped for 3 or 4 minutes only because I was visiting a friend to wave a quick hello. A few other times I stopped momentarily to either adjust something on the bike, or re-latch my helmet after unlatching it to eat. Two other times I took little side roads while I ate bananas. So I really rested very little.
Soon into my ride, I realized that this bike was a big problem for crotch soreness, so I knew I would need to rest my seat as often as possible. I used most down-hills to rest, and a few flat stretches, and this really worked. I did not have any significant soreness by the end of the ride, in contrast to the excruciating pain I rode through during last year's longer rides.
I also did not try to go fast at any time other than on down-hills; I used the easiest gears that made sense at all times.