Steve's Bike Blog

Road Ride #6 - Enjoying Spring

smartin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:56:21 +0000

Loop:	Great Swamp Loop	Year Total:	130.2 miles
Distance:	20.2 miles	Pace:	16.3 mph
Weather:	Sunny	Temperature:	Cool 51F
Working at home again, nice sunny cool day. I needed to get out because I haven’t gone in a bit due to weather, chores and lazyness. Gave the finger to two NJ arsehole drivers.

Road Ride #5 - Getting Faster

smartin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:39:30 +0000

Loop:	MAF #???	Year Total:	110.0 miles
Distance:	23.0 miles	Pace:	18.7 mph
Weather:	Sunny	Temperature:	Pleasant 75F
I went out for my second evening MAF ride. After a few miles I got dropped by the front group but continued on by my self, about 3/4 of the way around, I got picked up by a group being lead by a couple on a big tandem and managed to stay with the, I even pulled for a little bit. By the last mile or so of the ride we caught up to the leaders. Over all this was definitely a much faster ride than I’ve been doing but it felt good.

Road Ride #4 - Nooner

smartin — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:42:35 +0000

Loop:	Great Swamp Loop	Year Total:	86.9 miles
Distance:	20.2 miles	Pace:	16.1 mph
Weather:	Sunny	Temperature:	Cool 52F
Working at home. so I snuck out at lunch for a ride. It was cooler than I expected.

Road Ride #3 - First MAF Ride

smartin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:03:59 +0000

Loop:	MAF #525	Year Total:	66.7 miles
Distance:	26.2 miles	Pace:	16.6 mph
Weather:	Sunny	Temperature:	Pleasant 72F
A nice warm evening for my first MAF ride turned into a disaster when I got a flat in the parking lot 5 minutes before the ride started. I managed to get the tube changed and almost got the wheel back on the bike by the time the group left. I ended up leaving a few minutes after them and then proceeded to miss two early turns in the route and had to double back twice. I did end up catching up to a few stragglers. Not the best way to start the season.

Road Ride #2 - Out of Shape

smartin — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:50:33 +0000

Loop:	Great Swamp Loop	Year Total:	40.5 miles
Distance:	20.2 miles	Pace:	14.7 mph
Weather:	Sunny	Temperature:	Cool 45F
My first ride after being away and not getting any exercise. I had a hard time getting back up my hill. No where to go but up I guess.

Road Ride #1 - First Ride of the Year!

smartin — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 21:31:51 +0000

Loop:	Great Swamp Loop	Year Total:	20.2 miles
Distance:	20.2 miles	Pace:	15.7 mph
Weather:	Sunny	Temperature:	Cool 45F
Today was the first decent chance to get out for a ride this year. It was nice and sunny, not too cold and no wind. I did the usual loop around the reservation. There were a fair number of people out riding and a higher than normal number of arsehole New Jersey drivers. On woman was in such a hurry that she cut around me while I was turning left at a light. I guess she had a super bowl party to go to.

2007 Summary

smartin — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:31:57 +0000

At the start of the year I didn’t really set much of a goal other than to try to do as many or more miles than last year. Well I accomplished that, mostly due to joining the Morris Area Freewheelers bike club. This gave me access to organised rides that were typically longer than my usual 20 miles and often in the evening which I never did before. Specifically the Tuesday and Thursday night rides allowed me to get experience riding in a group and turned out to push my limits for pace. They seemed to get faster and faster as the summer progressed with the overall pace of a B ride hitting 21 mph on one occaision. On the weekends, I tended to go on the more leisurely C rides and hookup with others that wanted to go the same pace that I did. Overall, the bike club was a great discovery and I’m looking forward to getting more involved in 2008. My total for the year was 1100 miles on the road, but sadly only about 8 km on the trails.

This year I’m thinking that I should be able to extend the road miles up to maybe 1500 if I stick with it more through the entire season (I seemed to have dropped off quite a bit in the fall) and to try to get out more on the mountain bike.

Road Ride #42 - Last Ride Of The Year?

smartin — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:58:38 +0000

Loop:	Great Swamp Loop	Year Total:	1100.0 miles
Distance:	20.6 miles	Pace:	15.7 mph
Weather:	Sunny	Temperature:	Cool 45F
Today was warmish and sunny so I figured I would try to get in a few more miles before the end of the year. My last ride was a month ago so this one was a little harder that normal. It was pretty pleasant out, no wind and the temperature was not too bad. I saw a few other people on the road, many of which seemed familiar. When I got home the odometer read 1099.7 so I had to do a ride around the block to hit the 1100 mark.

Road Ride #41 - Yankee Thanksgiving

smartin — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:53:23 +0000

Loop:	Great Swamp Loop	Year Total:	1079.4 miles
Distance:	20.2 miles	Pace:	16.6 mph
Weather:	Very Nice	Temperature:	Pleasant 65F
Fall has turned brown with bits of yellow and sprinkled with the odd shot of brilliant red. The temperature was a warm (for this time of year) 65F and slightly muggy. I figured it was a perfect opportunity to get in one of the few remaining rides for this year. Not much to really tell, there we only a few riders out and it was pretty quiet traffic wise.

Road Ride #40 - A Perfect Fall Day

smartin — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:13:35 +0000

Loop:	Great Swamp Loop	Year Total:	1059.3 miles
Distance:	23.5 miles	Pace:	17.4 mph
Weather:	Very Nice	Temperature:	Perfect 75F
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best summer day can not compete with an average fall day, and when you get a fall day that is clear and pleasant with the sun filtering through the trees as they change colour, there is nothing better. Today was one of those days and I enjoyed it immensely. The road was surprisingly quiet and I was expecting to see more people out. I did however see a couple of photographers in the swamp and a few exotic cars out cruising around.