Yeah, I know, I know... It was last week sometime, Wednesday to be exact, since I posted. Hey, it just worked out that way. It is summer you know, so things go that way sometimes. Hopefully no one had to go on suicide watch or anything.
We had a great visit with Luke on Wednesday. We installed his porch swing and tried it out. It was really nice to spend time with him. He started his new engineering job on Thursday and is on a good path. Kedra and I spent Wednesday night at the Lavender home and returned back to Indiana on Thursday afternoon.
I got home in time to go for a 30 mile bike ride with several people. There were 7 of us who left Lighthouse around 6 p.m. for the 32 mile trip to Orleans and back via Amish country. It was a pretty casual ride on a perfect evening. One of my favorite parts is the last 2 miles or so down highway 37 from Tieman Tires to Lighthouse. It's fast! On Thursday no one wanted to go hard or pull hard. At least that's what everyone said. Dan said he would do it and it would be in the low 20s. Like everyone else, that stretch of road makes a liar out of you.
Dan crested the hill, and the next thing you know we are moving along pretty well at 27, 28 mph. Bill, who said he was not going to go fast, passes us going around 32. I felt good, so I jumped out of line with Dan and Tim and latched onto Bill's wheel. We cruised along at around 30 for a little while, and when we slowed, Dan and Tim were there too. After I made my move, they were able to close the gap and get on my wheel.
Friday I had lots of work to do and managed to get it all done. I started to run around 7 a.m., but my heart rate was way too high, and knowing that I had a 100 mile ride on Saturday, I decided to stop and walk back in. Managing all the miles and not getting over trained is the biggest challenge I am facing presently. I think it was a good move to stop my run.
Saturday was the big day. I met Bill at Parkview for a 7 a.m. departure. I didn't know if anyone else would be with us, even for part of it. Roy and John showed and said they wanted 60 miles. Bill and I were planning on meeting Tim S. out on the course. He was camping at Spring Mill and would ride until he met us. He, too, was planning on 100.
We met Tim on Yockey Road. We continued on our way to our first official stop at Huck's in Orleans. There we took on some food and drink and planned the next move. Roy and John would turn at Bromer, while Bill, Tim and I would continue to wander our way to Campbellsburg via Saltillo. We turned south on a beautiful little road that connects 337 with 56, just west of the county line. I love that road.
We went into Livonia and headed back on 337 until the we hit the Saltillo road. We made our way to Campbellsburg and ate at the little gas station store. It was not the highest quality of fare, but at 46 miles, real food tasted pretty good. After that little break we wandered around West Washington School before heading back to Livonia. We calculated that we were going to need a few more miles before arriving back at Huck's. We need to be around 80 miles at Huck's, since the ride back to Bedford is about 20 miles.
Looking for extra miles makes exploring new territory fun, and that what's we did and what we had. Plus we had a bit of tailwind heading out of Bromer on 337. I was feeling good and found myself going around 20 mph quite comfortable in aero position. We made it back to Huck's with a mile or two more than we needed, which was good in my mind. More food, more drink, and it was time to ride again.
Tim left us at Meridian and went back to Spring Mill to complete his century. He was making a huge jump from a long ride of 65 miles to 100. He was feeling it but did a great job of hanging on/in and getting it done.
Bill and I, since we had an extra mile or two, decided to head out to highway 37 at Tieman's and ride down to the junction. The promise was to take it easy, but Bill, really strong, started enjoying the tailwind. We were going down the highway at 28 and 29 mph, which was fun, but my heart was not liking it. I was watching my rate rise through the 150s to 170, so I shouted at Bill that I was going to back off. We slowed and the heart rate lowered. My main concern was the upcoming rock cut after the bridge.
With my heart rate back down, I took the rock cut as it came. It was very hot through there, and I was tired. I managed it, as Bill patiently waited at the top. Once the climb was complete, we made the ride on Washington Ave, turned a couple of times, and ended back at Parkview. Our century ended up being about 101.5. We took it easy and averaged around 15.4 and my average heart rate was 117, which I am very happy about!
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