Sunday, April 30, 2006

Three dog night

Actually, that should say "three ride week". We got out three times in a week for the first time this season. Thursday was a 12 mile ride from our house out around the Lake Bella Vista area. Then on Friday (back to back days) we took the White Pine Trail south and rode 13 miles. Finally we got in our first team ride of the season. Nine folks from the West Michigan Ride Team braved the rain and rode the WPT from the ball park north to Russell Road where the paved trail ends. That was a 26 mile jaunt. So we hit our mileage goal for this week. Of course next week that goal increases.

This week's ride totals:
4/27 - Lake Bella Vista: 12 miles
4/28 - WPT south: 13 miles
4/30 - WPT north: 26 miles
Total - 51 miles

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Another Sunday night review

It was beautiful all week and then today, when we were supposed to have our first West Michigan team ride. It rained, and it was only 50 degrees. Not the best cycling weather. So instead of getting out three times this week we only rode twice. Friday was a good ride. Out and back on the White Pine Trail for one hour exactly and rode 15.2 miles. That would make our average speed 15.2 miles per hour. That's about 4 MPH better than at this time last year. Better bikes and better clothes probably have something to do with it.

4/18 - 8 miles; hills and interval training
4/21 - 15.2 miles; WPT north
Total: 23.2 miles

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

What a difference a year makes



Here are a couple of photos that are humorous because of the change they show. The first one shows Tom, Mary and Jacob from the donation letter we are sending out this year.

The second picture is the photo we sent out last year when we were "trying" to look like cyclists. Amazing what a year's worth of training can do. Not to mention the spandex.

Also, did some interval training today. Eight miles of sprints and hills in 30 minutes. Boy was that fun.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Happy Easter

We hope the Bunny brought you everything you desired today. It was a good week of riding. Not a lot of miles, but good, sunny miles. We took the White Pine Trail north on Friday for 15 and 1/2 miles. Thought about riding to my mother-in-law's house for Easter dinner, but it's a little too far for this early in the season. Maybe in a couple of weeks.

This week's ride totals:

4/13 - 12.7 miles; WPT south
4/14 - 15.5 miles; WPT north
Total: 28.2 miles

Thursday, April 13, 2006

We love SPRING!

A little 60+ degree weather, a little rain, and "bang" things start turning green. The lawn, the trees, the bruise from where you fell last week. Today was one of those good early spring days to ride, sorta sunny, a light breeze and lots of pent up energy. We did 12.7 miles on the White Pine Trail Training Course. Took the southern route down to Whitecaps ball park. There is a carnival going on right now. Whoopee!
In other news, make sure to check out Coach Mike Clark's Club-Velo web site. There is a link to it over in the link list on the left. Mike says it's even better than the regular bike shop site.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

A double header

Well, not a true double header in the baseball sense of the word. We mean getting out on the bike twice in the same week. It was pretty decent for those of us spending Spring Break in Michigan. We did have a couple of nice days to ride. Thursday was 10 miles up to Rockford along the White Pine Trail and the return route took us up Childsdale hill. The first true hill work of the season.
Sunday was a serpentine route to a friend's house on 5 Mile Road near Thousand Oaks Golf Club. It's about 2 1/2 miles if you go straight, or over 11 if you take my way. Lots of hills. Tom also achieved his personal best speed, clocking in at 40 MPH coming down East Beltline.
This week also saw the arrival of our training schedules from coach Mike Clark. The training officially starts this week with a mileage goal of 60 miles. We'll see if the weather cooperates.

This week's totals:
4/6 - 10.3 miles; WPT north
4/9 - 11.3 miles; Plainfield area
Total: 21.6 miles

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Spring Riding

It's hard to get outside and ride consistently this time of year. However this week we did have one warm (60's) and sunny day, so we hit the trail and did 12.3 miles. It really feels good to be out and you can tell that the weather is changing and soon we'll be out several times a week. Then the Sunday Night Update won't have just one entry.

This week's ride totals:

3/30 - 12.3 miles: White Pine Trail south