When I started to ride a road bike on June 16, 2001, I recall the first time I went 20 miles, then the first time I went 25 miles. Each was a great sense of accomplishment. It was not until 3 months later I finally went over 45 miles in one ride and I did not exceed 50 miles until October 21st of that year, more than 4 months after I had started to road bike.

Ann, on the other hand, got her road bike on February 5th, and today she rode her first 50 miles ride, less than 3 months since she first started road biking. It is quite unusual to reach that distant within such a short time period. On Monday we went over 40 miles on a ride and decided that exceeding 50 miles today would help her to obtain the confidence she can do the 60 mile ride for the Tour de Cure next month. Anyone who can ride 50 miles on a training ride can ride 60 on a supported ride.

It was raining this morning and cool so we were not quite sure we would be able to ride. Ann decided to run 4 miles on the tread mill and I went out side for a run. The rain stopped, more or less, around noon and we even started to see some sun at times. Around 1:15 pm, we finally left but dressed for cooler weather, in the high 50′s.

The course took us out Watsonville road, then left at Uvas, down to Bailey. We had to fight a strong head wind all the way. We then descended down Bailey over the freeway and over Monterey to the bike path, which we took back to Morgan Hill. From there we took Hill Road, over to Tennant, then back west to Monterey where we enjoyed lunch at Erik’s Deli. The food sure tasted good as we sat outside on the patio in the sun.

After lunch we made our way over to Santa Teresa, then rode that with a strong tail wind back to Gilroy. At times we were going 22 mph. Two guys in San Jose Bike club jersyes passed me at one point but I didn’t need to race them, because I knew I could easily pass them at the pace they were moving. We finished with a bit over 50 miles. It had warmed up considerably by the time we returned and the last few miles in Gilroy were with a temperature in the high 60′s.

So it is 92 miles this week for Ann on the bike, more like a 100 if you count the times in the exercise bike. A good week for her. It was particularly impressive she ran 4 miles and biked 50 in the same day. Kind of like my dual training when I was getting ready for both a double century and a marathon at the same time. Hum, if we only had a tandem, Ann could ride the double century with me. I wonder how she would like being in the saddle for over 12 hours, however.

Categories: Cycling with Family
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