bike ride 42 miles -- a little fast

I met in Brookside expecting the Brookside ride on the KCMBC ride calendar. I joined the Yahoo group, but too late.  I showed at at 8 am the designated time, but they started at 7 am due to the heat.  There were a few other bikers, 4 from another group and 3 looking for the Brookside ride.  We joined them. They joined a larger group at the Scooters at 9 am on Shawnee Mission Parkway.  So we rode there to meet the others.  Then we rode through KCK, River Market, the bottoms and I don't know where else. We rode east because we were along side I-435.

They were a little faster than I'm used to.  But I did mostly keep up. And they only took short 5-7 minute breaks.  I was glad I had some breakfast and an energy snack with me.  It was a good ride for me.  I was pretty tired by the end.  I'll stick to the Clocktower ride if I'm free on Saturdays. But I wanted a Sunday ride because of my trail run yesterday.

Here's the route, but ignore the mapping from Brookside to my home because I left my GPS on.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199578829

"Psycho Psummer" 10 Mile Trail Run

I completed another trail run.  It was at Wyandotte County Lake Park in Kansas City, Kansas.  This time 10.5 miles.  That is the trail all the way around the Lake.  It was part of the trail nerds series.  And there were three distances: 20 and 30 miles started at 8:00 am. And I with the 10 milers started at 9:00 am.  So it was already hot at the start.  But ... it was not so bad because it was mostly in the shade.


I had a fun relaxed run, with plenty of walks.  I decided to only look at my heart rate on my GPS, not pace or time or distance. I did check distance at the aid stations.  But I really didn't need it.  Basically, if it was a long or steep up hill, I walked. If it was in direct sunlight, I walked.  Walking became part of my routine. I even hoped for a hill sometimes, so I could slow down and walk.  So my overall pace of 16:21 seems slow, but I did do a lot of running.


The first 3 miles were a bit rough.  I was not acclimated to the heat and it was hilly.  Maybe because I was fresh, I ran some hills instead of walking.  My first break was about 10 minutes. I just relaxed, ate, drank and took a salt tablet. I was running  with my hydration pack full of ice water, but needed some electrolytes, too.


The next 5 miles were pretty good.  I ran slow and walked when I needed or wanted to.  The trail was moderately technical (i.e., rocks, etc.)  I also walked some rough areas.  And after 10 minutes, the field spread out so I mostly ran alone.  It was great to be out in nature.  And I think I reached a comfort level with the heat (when not in the sun).


I slowed a bit for the last 3.5 miles.  But I felt good and ran most of it.  Not too many aches, but some. I have a sore foot -- the ball of my right foot.  So that got some abuse. But my previous injury and my knee behaved.


It was a good day from me. I may do this same run in the winter.  The good part for me is if I can do 10 miles on a trail, I'm ready to run more than I've been.  (Of course biking is fun, too.)



http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199155855

Report on Spin Pizza Monday Ride

I've drawn up a list of 11 weekly rides from the KCMBC weekly ride calendar that I want to try out this summer.  So far, I've absolutely loved the first 2 I've hit -- Saturday's ClockTower with Mitchell and yesterday's Spin Pizza ride from their 119th store in Leawood.  Spin Pizza has 3 locations -- downtown, Olathe, and Leawood -- that offer weekly rides on Wed, Thurs, and Mondays respectively.  They offer short (10 miles) and long (18-20 miles) options at each, and 10% off on pizza and drinks afterwards.  Leawood draws the largest crowd at 60-90 riders weekly.  We were in the middle of that range yesterday.  I dropped in on the long ride, which ended up cruising empty suburban streets and area country roads for a total of 18.5 miles.  Lots of turns, and multiple stops at lights made for an interesting, always changing ride.  The lead group comes in under an hour, I finished in 73 minutes for  an average 15.2 mph with stops.  My moving average was probably closer to 16 mph.  The first 10 minutes we had one big pack before drifting apart, and I always had riders I was riding with the entire ride.  This is true for most people as we all picked our own pace.  This was a definite workout -- but I have much to learn about pacing and when to surge to keep up with a pack and how to use hills and lights more effectively to stay with them.  For example, early in the ride, I surged to stay with the lead pack, but we stopped at a light a bit later, and older (read wiser) riders caught up without the surge.  These riders soon after left me in their dust.  In the end, I definitely felt like I'd done a hard, physical workout.  Lots of fun, and I'd recommend these weekly rides to anyone.  On other fronts, had a good week last week -- got in 4 runs including 8.5 miles Sunday morning and 2 bike rides of 22 miles (to breakfast in Spring Hill on the 4th with Katie) and 29 miles (Saturday with Mitchell).  So far, I'm enjoying riding in group rides on my off running days. -- Bill

ClockTower Ride Post #2

See Mitchell's post below for details on the most excellent ClockTower ride I joined him on this morning.  I found the ride to be everything he had said it would be: good group of folks that ride together -- they wait at intersections for stragglers and drop no one -- and an wonderfully fun course to ride.  We rode through the suburbs from 78th street to Holiday Drive, and were on totally deserted streets the whole way.  I have to say that riding 29 miles in a group of 10 riders -- and they usually average much bigger groups than that -- was a LOT of fun.  Way easier way to clock miles than the Freedom Ride the week before.  The ride's signature is that they stop for breakfast, which was fun, and we end at the OP farmer's market which is fun to buy fresh fruit after the ride to eat.  The market also features live music in the summer.  This morning, it was 15-20 people playing ukelele's and singing folk songs.  Peace, brother.  I will be back to this ride again in the future, probably on my short run weekends!  I'll close with 2 pictures from the farmer's market.  -- Bill

Clocktower Bike Ride 29 miles with Bill

Bill and I joined the Clocktower group. We started at 7 am instead of the usual 8 because of the heat.  We got 22 miles in and then had breakfast at EggsTC.  This was a small group, but we stayed together.  After breakfast we had 7 miles to go back.  It was a good plan, by the leader, Bob P.  It was hot, so pushing through 7 was doable.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/196665097

Sunday Runday 7.5 mile run

I joined the Sunday Runday group for an easy 7.5 mile run.  Maybe 8, but 7.5 on my GPS.  I ran with someone about 3.5 miles who kept me going faster.  He turned around because of the heat. I slowed down and turned around at the next water stop.  The way back was hot, but I took my time.

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/195204676

Freedom Bicycle Ride 33.5 miles

I also enjoyed the Freedom Ride.  Bill and Katie were great to ride with.  Most of the ride went well, but the last 10 miles or so were right into the wind and it was hot.  We had pancakes before the ride and lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings after.

At one of the stops, Bill knew an old colleague, Pat, the owner of Sibley Orchard.  He always finds someone.  Katie and I just put up with him.

I'm pleased with my riding. Actually I need to run more.  But I'd rather ride in the heat than run.  So it's good to have options.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/195204663

4th of July parade

MRC'ers Mike and Rob marched in the Parkville Fourth of July parade, carrying Mike's huge flag. The big flag is an experience. People salute, pop out of their chairs and stand at attention (even kids), take photos and generally exclaim.
We walked about a mile, and it was a relief getting home and out of the heat.
Oh, yeah. I ran 5.5 miles earlier in the morning when it was "just" 80. -- Rob