It's Hot, It's The South,,,,,,,,,

So yesterday I actually hit the road before sunrise. For me that's very unusual! I just don't get motivated that early. Even with the early start it was hot! Really hot! I had one goal, a metric century. 66 miles. I hadn't ridden in a week so I figured why not.

I left the house and found myself headed south like I usually do. Not sure why but that seems to be my favorite direction. Even back in the day 7-8 years ago when the kid was still riding we always went south. The roads are just emptier and I still find plenty of elevation.

I took the long way down to the state line and had a snack at the store right on the line. My choice was go ahead and head back north or cut across on the line and do my loop with a big climb into Pageland and then circle back to the same spot I was already sitting. I chose option 2, big climb and all. It was 8:15. 9am and I was going right by the same store.

Didn't stop but kept coming toward the house. 20 miles and 3 loops of Oakdale mile a little later I was home. Right down the street there is a neighborhood, Oakdale. It is one street in one circle and it's exactly one mile. I was down to 63 miles and needed 3 more for my Strava metric century medal for the month.

Three loops later and I was home. I got my medal, digital medal! Now it's done. It's amazing how Strava can dangle a worthless digital medal in front of you and here I am going three extra loops around a neighborhood to finish up!

Today, Sunday I took the grand-baby and went to the golf course at 7 am and did a three mile walk. Came home and nobody was even stirring yet. She and I could have been gone for another hour and nobody would have known. We were in the pool and having fun before anyone woke up.

High noon and I hit the road for 30 miles. After yesterday and the walk and the pool for a few hours this morning and the wind! It was rough! Felt good though. I know where I stand these days and I know my plans for the next summer. Now it's a matter of putting my head down and making it happen. I need to be able to at least be able to ride a 100 miles a day two days in a row.

Yes a solid 100 per day! Tomorrow is Monday and I plan to hit it again. Of course I know it's not gonna happen overnight but this weekend was a good start. I am literally a year and one week out. A long time but not that far off when you have a goal! 

Yep, still alive!

Been over a year! Honestly had no ideal it had been that long. So life kicks on, I'm a grandpa now, Pa-Pa is what I go by! Love every minute of it! Life is good, everybody is healthy and seem to be happy.

The main reason I checked in is I still ride and try to ride a lot. It's been two years since my Colorado mess and I plan to go back. Next year is gonna be the date. I plan to go in the best shape of my life, so now is the time to start.

I plan to start using my blog to track my training and my feelings over this. I am now 52 and life is getting short. I've lost almost 30 pounds since I last went and plan to loss 10 more. It's hard to do but I can!

For now that's about all I have to update. I plan to head out in the morning before the sun comes up. Be back soon.

One Week Later, Still Raining,,,,

Enough said!

Still Raining,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

So I got to ride all weekend, I just had to drive an hour each way to do it. I could have done Uhwarrie but it's still an hour anyway. Plus it would have been really muddy. Cheraw is perfect for a rainy day. The sand is at is's best when soaked. Saturday I even got rained on. The weather was right though! It was about 63 when I started but like 53 when I finished.

Had the privilege of meeting officer Webster with the South Carolina highway patrol on the way home. I was cruising along paying no attention when I saw the front end of thee approaching car take a dive. That's when I realized I was meeting a state trooper. He did the flip and I was already sitting on the side of the road waiting.

He asked the last time I had a ticket and I told him. It's been 18 years. He checked and then wrote me a warning ticket! Made me really happy, Sunday when I went back down I had the cruise set both directions. No need to test my luck, I'll take a break once and awhile, but you don't get that lucky too often.

Sunday was just cold, low 40's but still righteous. So now we sit and watch it rain again.

Never enough,,,,,,,,,,,

Enough time on the bike anyway! I might have mentioned, we seem to be having one of the wettest winters ever here in the southeast. It ain't helping my riding at all. But I guess were all in the same boat.

Best thing to happen around here as of late, we are grand parents! Little Miranda has joined our family and she is about as sweet as you could ever imagine! Yes I will be buying her a new bike really soon! Got to start her early.

Makes me want to actually pay the few bucks to google so I can start posting pictures again. So I can show the world how sweet she is.

Plans,,,,,

So I am now doing night rides by myself regularly on a few local trails. The trails close to home, trails that I know someone else will probably ride the same night I do. That way someone will at least find my body in a timely fashion, that's if I get taken out by my imaginary night monsters that live in my head. Bastards!

It's been a good winter so far for me, lots of riding, no snow LOTS of rain. It's the south, just the way it is here. Although I probably ought to be glad if we did get a lot of snow I would have to buy another bike, a fat bike. I don't need another bike!

So I came up with a plan. I am now signed up for the Vista 300/420 bike-packing race in Tennessee. It's in early May and the logistics are just what I need. About a 4-5 hour drive start and finish in the same spot and I need no planes trains or help to make this happen.

I just need to keep pedaling and get over my stupid fear of the dark! This week is a big week for that part of it. I am heading to Uhwarrie after work this week by myself and gonna finally do a remote ride in the dark all alone. So far we have been riding there all winter and have yet to see anyone else night riding. I say we because I have only gone when my side kick Kelly has been able to join me.

This week will be the big test! Stay tuned....

Getting Braver ,,,,,,,,,,

Yep, been riding at least a few times a week by myself in the woods. Not that bad at all to be honest! Still haven't tried to go to Uhwarrie yet but I am making progress. My biggest discovery this night riding season has been my light set up.

Up until this year I have always used the million lumina rechargeable lights. This summer for my total failure of a ride in Colorado I had to do something different. Since I wasn't gonna be able to charge them, I bought battery lights. so I had them I decided to try them the first ride.

They are only 200 lumina each and I have one on my helmet and one on my bars. Guess what? Works out great! Plus I have'nt had to mess with charging a light all season. That makes a big difference. I now can go at any given time whenever the time becomes available, no excuses! I don't have to worry about charging my lights, just go.

Makes life a lot easier, I'm all about making things simpler. So now we are on the door step of Christmas and new years is a week away. Next post I will get to my new plan, Colorado is a gonna be 2020 instead of 2019. 2019 is gonna be a couple of east coast bikepacking events. Within a few states away radius and probably the training I should have done before last year.