Good Training Ride

I managed a good ride this morning, although I’m pretty beat now. I got back a few minutes ago, and managed 45 miles. I haven’t looked at the rest of the stats yet, but I know the 45 is right. The last 10 miles were tough though. I didn’t have anything left in the tank and just had to set my mind to simply turn the pedals at whatever pace I could, so I know my average speed is probably pretty low. I think I probably need to eat a little better before I go out for a ride of that length.

Somewhere around the 25 mile mark I also had to stop and tighten a spoke on my rear wheel. I’ve been having to tighten spokes after pretty much every ride recently, which tells me something is wrong. Probably time to take the wheel into the shop. I can do a simple home truing, but I don’t trust myself to do a really good job, nor do I have a truing stand. I’m wondering if one of the spokes is partially stripped where it threads into the nipple at the rim.

Not much to report from the road today. Plenty of farm animals I guess: donkeys, goats, horses and cows, and lots of dogs, but none really bothered me. No real wildlife however, except some cranes and herons wading in the lake as I rode past.

There was a stiff headwind coming from the West it felt like, which is also when, and probably a big reason why, I had such a tough time in the last part of the ride—because I was riding right into it.

The Tour to Tanglewood is coming up again pretty soon and I really need to start fundraising, as well as getting into shape for it, so here’s the first mention of it here. If you would like to contribute to the fight against MS, and support me in the Tour to Tanglewood bike ride please click this link and make a donation. Any amount is appreciated, and know that it is for a really good cause. I’ll be making a more focused plea for donations that should be appearing on the blog pretty soon that tells more about the ride and the cause, but I plan to ride at least 50 miles, and am considering options for more. Thanks!