I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get a ride in this morning. Tropical Storm Hannah prevented me from riding yesterday as it went by Florida heading for the Carolinas. The weather report called for a good day so I went to bed early expecting to ride. The alarm went off at 7:00 and I took a quick look outside. The sky was clear and there was no wind. Awesome. I was out the door by 7:20.

My fitness plan had me riding my bicycle for 30 miles today so I set out to ride the same route as last week. Unlike last Saturday, I made sure to let my wife know where I was riding and when I expected to be back. The route is below.

Overall the ride was very uneventful which was kind of nice. The sun had yet to crawl above the trees so most of the first half of the ride was in some cool shadows. It was awesome. As I neared the 10-mile point while crossing in front of the St Johns Towncenter (a big shopping area), I hear somebody yell my name. I look across the road and it’s Kevin from Ride 28. I yelled back and pulled over to see if he wanted to talk. I looked back and he kept going. Oh well. From there I did the loop around around UNF. Jaxgtr, I saw the turn you were talking about that can add some mileage on the campus. It’s the light at the campus police station. I’ll have to try that out sometime.

After finishing that loop I headed back through the Town Center and took a turn West that would take me down to my rest stop at Southpoint Community Church. While riding a long stretch on the way to the Church, I saw Kevin again heading in the opposite direction. I yelled and waived but he must not have heard me. It looked like he was concentrating on his ride and listening to his ipod. I should have called him yesterday and asked if he wanted to ride since it looks like he was riding the same route as me. Kevin, sorry about not calling. I’ll give you a call this week to see if we can meet up next Saturday.

I stopped at the Church for a quick break and took the opportunity to adjust my pedals (two of the adjustment screws had worked loose) and eat a little snack. I realized this morning that I didn’t have anymore Jelly Belly® Sport Beans or gels so I threw a little cheese and cracker snack in my bag on the way out the door. It was actually pretty tasty. I also took the opportunity to refill my water bottles. There’s a water hose on the backside of the Church but I discovered last week that you need a wrench to operate it. Luckily, I remembered to throw a miniature crescent wrench into my seat bag before leaving the house.

After getting my rest I set out again and road the ten miles back home. There were a couple of times during the ride that I felt good and decided to pick up the speed for a short interval. One was right before my rest break on a nice long flat stretch where I was able to get my speed up to 20.5 mph. The other was about halfway home on another flat piece of road where I was able to get my speed up to 20.7 mph. It felt good. Another thing I did today was ride the entire route in my big chain ring. I rarely ride using it but have decided to try and use it more often. No pain no gain.

That’s about it. It was a really great ride that left me feeling good. I saw a lot of folks this morning either running, walking, or riding. It’s always nice to see others while I’m out riding. All told, I rode 30.7 miles in 2 hours 8 minutes.

Well, today starts week two of my fitness plan that will take me until the end of the year. You can read about the plan here. I’m still in the base fitness phase and will be for another five weeks when I accumulate 500 miles of easy cycling. I should reach that 500 mile milestone the week of 6-Oct.

Last week I got in 57.8 miles which is about 12 less than I had planned. I was short because I needed to take a break after riding for two straight days and didn’t want to ride for four straight days. It was a good decision so I’m not too upset about it.

I was up at 5:00 AM again this morning and was riding by about 5:15. It had apparently rained during the night, and probably not long before I came outside, so the roads were wet with an occasional puddle. Overall they weren’t bad. It was dark outside though. We’re in new moon so there was no help from Artemis.

I wondered how I would feel after riding 31 miles on Saturday and I was surprised that I actually felt pretty good. I intentionally took Monday off (due to it being a holiday and to take two days of rest after Saturday) and it looks like it paid off. I actually felt that I had to hold myself back from pushing too hard but I didn’t do too good a job of it.

Whenever I ride I always have problems with my hands becoming numb and/or tingly. I read an article in Bicycling Magazine this weekend that talked about bike how riding can cause prolonged pressure on the ulnar nerve and can cause the “pins and needles” feeling that I’m experiencing. The article said to try and change your hand position often (which I do) and to try and build up some strength in the wrists. A couple of exercises were provided that I’m going to have to try out.

I saw several runners this morning..even a couple that were obviously out before I was just based on where they were. More power to them. In the coming weeks, I may have to start earlier too. My wife is going in for surgery next week and I’ll be playing Mr. Mom for a while. That means I’ll take over getting the kids ready for school in the mornings and stuff like that. That means I need to be back home from my morning ride no later than around 5:50 so that I can get their breakfast cooked. It’ll be a challenge but I’m not worried.

Anyway, that’s about it for today. I road my 13 miles in 55 minutes today.