30 Days of Biking: Day 28

Day 28: An Evening to Mt. Carmel

This evening was probably one of the only evenings on this challenge where I needed a light. Got a late start, but it was nice riding on the roads around my house. Demon dog was out but didn’t chase me, saw the tops of some thunderstorms in the distance, really a nice ride. And to not disappoint a couple of my friends at work, Jason and Brian, I didn’t do a “Mailbox Run.” This time I went to Mt. Carmel and back…well at least Mt. Carmel Road. Racked up 2.3 miles this evening! 

Total Miles Today:   2.3
Total April Miles.: 181.6

30 Days of Biking: Day 25

Day 25 - To Mt. Carmel and Back

Today I was planning on going to Cochran Mill Park for a 15+ mile ride, but as life out in the country took over, my time for riding got more limited and more limited. After moving furniture into my mom's apartment, I did some mowing around the berry patch, weed eating around the house and pond, then vacuumed and shocked the pool...then I finally did my ride. However it was a short ride, from my house to Mt. Carmel road and back.

Here are today's stats...

Total Miles Today:  1.8
Total April Miles.: 164.9

30 Days of Biking: Day 23

Day 23: Another LRR with my wife

Had a beautiful morning and a great road ride with my wife.

Here are today's stats...

Total Miles Today: 6.6
Total April Miles.: 155.9

30 Days of Biking: Day 22

Day 22: Aint Nothing Like the Real Thing

It was SO good to be back on a real bike! Not to say I didn’t get a good workout on the stationary bike, and I had to do with what I had to work with…but hey, aint nothing like riding the real thing. So good to be back on Farrin! After I got back from Savannah, we took a road ride around our home, weather was great and what was even better is that I was able to share part of the 30 Days with my wife. Since she road bike, and I mountain bike, we rarely get to ride together. This afternoon was a special treat!

So here are today's stats...

Total Miles Today:    6.6
Total April Miles.: 155.9

30 Days of Biking: Day 16 - Local Road Ride (LRR)

Day 16 - LRR

Today was more of a recovery day for me. After 15 days of riding at least 3 miles or more (yeah, the minimum of 5 miles of day has kinda gone away, but having said that, I am keeping my minimum ride length to no less than 3 miles...most of the time) and after a really good day at Blankets yesterday, my legs were a wee bit sore so I did a LRR.  This is what I also call the "Chase by the 2 dogs down the street because a neighbor can't control their dogs" ride. Yep, there is a home down the road from me where about half the time I ride by, they have 2 dogs that run and chase me. But they also chase cars, so I'm in good company. Other than running beside me and chasing me, they really don't show any other signs of aggression, so I keep riding. They aren't big dogs, rather small, and, for lack of a better word, ugly dogs...they are not really that pleasant to look at.

Along another section of road I ride, there is a green barn, rather picturesque, and that is the barn you seen in the picture below.

Here are today's stats...

Total Miles Today:    3.4
Total April Miles.: 113.0

30 Days of Biking: Day 14

Day 14: Trail Building and a Loop

My best friend, Dan,  came over this morning and we worked on the mountain bike trails we are building on my property. I have 5.5 acres with most of it wooded, 2 small streams running through it, some decent elevation and deep gulleys that the streams have carved out. We have been working on this for a few months. Trail building from scratch is not as easy as it sounds, especially when you have bridges to build. For us, so far, we will be building 4 bridges, two of them are going to be about 20 feet long...that'll take some engineering. If anyone has any ideas to pass on for building 20 foot long bridges over a waterway, let me know!

Afterwards I did my ride, a short one and not meeting my 5 mile goal, but I call trail building part of riding...right!?!?!?!

Here are today's stats...

Total Miles Today: 3.3
Total April Miles.: 97.5

Tom Witcher Road

30 Days of Biking: Day 13

Day 13: A Short, Post Last Midnight Shift Road Ride

I promise, this is the last time you’ll hear me complain about being on midnight shifts and how it affects my riding…REALLY! Being my last midnight shift in this set, I have to “reset” my body to a normal sleep schedule. Therefore I got 4 hours of sleep today. If I get any more sleep, my body will think it is still on midnights and I’ll be awake tonight. So after waking up, did a little work around the house and then did a ride with my neighbor. It was a short ride, just no energy…didn’t make my minimum of 5 miles, but did rise a little over 3 miles.

I am having problem with my back tire. I run tubeless and I am slowly losing air, about 20 lbs (I run 40 lbs on the road and about 28 on the trails). So my job tomorrow will be to find out where I’m losing this air.

Here are today's stats...

Total Miles Today: 3.3
Total April Miles.: 94.2

30 Days of Biking: Day 12

Day 12: A Neighborly Ride

About a week ago, my neighbor injured the muscle in his leg. The doc said for him not to ride for at least 7 days. Today was day 7, so he did 1 lap on the roads around our homes. That totaled 3.25 miles. He called it quits and I did another lap to get me above 5 miles. 

Thought I was going to be riding around in some showers this afternoon, but when I woke up this afternoon (yes, still on midnight shifts, I got one more tonight), the sun was out and it was beautiful. Right before I started the ride, a local was out sunning himself (see pic). I was going to see if he wanted to ride, but I think his legs were too short :)

Here are today's stats...

Total Miles Today:  6.5
Total April Miles.: 90.9

30 Days of Biking: Day 11

Day 11: The Birthday Ride

Today I turned 53 years old. Yep, over half a century. Most of the time I don’t feel like I’m 53, and a lot of that I have to credit keeping active, going to the gym and definitely biking! Biking is my outlet, its how I relieve any stress that has built up. It also energizes me both mentally and physically (although after a long strenuous ride I feel like I could lay down for days!). I really wanted to do more than my normal road ride around my house, but unfortunately it was also my third midnight shift and my body was definitely in midnight mode (where you don’t want to do anything except exist). But I did manage to do a little more than I normally do around the house.

I could see the storm clouds rolling in, but I did take some time to take more pictures of the beautiful countryside here in northwest Coweta County Georgia. The dogwoods this spring were absolutely beautiful and I was able to get a picture of what would probably be the last of the dogwood flowers this season.

It was a good ride and a great birthday ride! Here are the stats…

Total Miles Today:  6.6
Total April Miles.: 84.4

more friends along the country roads

Last of the dogwood flowers