The Little Things
June 29, 2015

Last week I talked about the Run(317) Race I did in Broadripple. Since I stayed in town after that for a long weekend, I decided to do my long ride on the Monon, which I hadn’t biked on since October! I ended up leaving later than I had originally planned since I was hanging out with my friend, and didn’t end up hitting the trail until almost 10 am. Poor choice since it was supposed to be a hot day!

I had a great line up of podcasts ready to go and all the fuel I wanted (plus about 50 ounces of nuun), and I took off! I did an out and back north of the trail totaling 8 miles before heading south on the trail. As soon as I started riding my legs felt a bit heavy, and the turn over wasn’t quite what I wanted.

I’m thinking it was a combination of poor eating over the weekend and my legs feeling heavy from my 10k. No matter which direction I faced it felt a bit like I was biking into the wind, which I hate. At least last week, even though I was frustrated with grinding against the wind, I had a great tailwind ** when I turned around- not this week though! It all felt difficult.

One thing I really enjoy about the Monon is that there are miles that are completely shaded in the woods while others are completely (or almost completely) in the sunshine. It’s a great mix 🙂

Biking in Broadripple

Because I hadn’t planned on doing a long ride, I didn’t bring my biking glasses, so I sported lime green ones instead. Ridiculous.

I stopped at mile 18 to really hydrate and take a quick break (because it’s so hot I needed to stop a bit to bring my heart rate down). Also, at the end of last season I got a biking jersey that is completely mesh except for a small panel on the front, and I was so thankful to be wearing that for the ride! It definitely helps to keep me cool 🙂

Biking in Broadripple

I stopped again to take a picture of my bike at the river. I hadn’t planned on doing a long ride so, while I had everything else I needed (I keep my bike, bump, fuel, and helmet in my car most of the summer) I didn’t bring my water bottles, so I had to borrow them from the people I was staying with. They didn’t have bottles good for biking, so I had to stop a lot to drink (not complaining- I was just happy to have the nuun!).

I paused for about a minute at mile 28 to eat a salted caramel gu! I hadn’t had one since the fall and had forgotten how absolutely delicious they actually are!!

salted carmael gu

picture from last fall…

Somewhere around mile 32.5 Itook a side trail off the monon and decided to just explore the area a bit. It messed with my pace, but I didn’t care because I was enjoying exploring a new place! The trail was really narrow and I almost crashed into a guy when we both went around a narrow turn coming opposite directions- yikes! We both stayed on our bikes and continued on our way.

I kept grinding away, and by mile 45 I wished I had brought a little more fuel with me. The amount I brought was fine for the 47 miles I did last week, but by mile 43 or 44 I was a bit shaky- I wonder why that is?

IMG_9060

I ended the ride with 51 miles and a smile on my face. Even though the ride felt tough, I enjoyed myself quite a bit and loved biking on trails I hadn’t been on in quite some time!

What I ate and drank:

I’m enjoying exploring a bit more on my bike this summer than I did last summer, and am thankful for the time to be able to go on long summer rides!

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