In my effort to expand my training, I've been looking forward to an opportunity to increase my riding distance and that opportunity came yesterday. In my longest ride ever, I rode round trip from Zube Park in northwest Houston out to Chappell Hill, Texas and back. With a bit of exploration in Hempstead and Chappell Hill, my total ride was 62 miles!
And here is a picture of my route:
A couple of things I learned on this ride yesterday:
1) For distance riding, comfort is an important thing. I would venture to say, as long as you are in decent shape to begin with, comfort is THE important thing. You MUST get a comfortable well built bike (and comfort does NOT mean "cushy"), make sure to have it fit to you PERFECTLY, and invest in a high quality saddle and high quality bike shorts. Make sure all your accessories are built for comfort as well. I've got a great contact at a bike shop if you are in the Houston area!
2) (Some) dogs suck! Apparently a person on a bike is nothing but a very challenging and exciting potential chew toy for some dogs! Tell you what though, there is NOTHING like a charging dog coming up the rear to get you to practice your "sprinting" skills!
3) Just how many freakin' armadillos do we have in this state? If there are as many alive as I saw dead yesterday, we are about to be overrun!!!
If you build up to it, train properly and do everything the smart way, this is the type of training level just about anyone can achieve. This was a great ride, with great weather, and was a HELL of a great way to spend a Sunday morning. It didn't wipe me out (as I was afraid it might have). Rather, I came home and spent the rest of the day with friends and family. Now, when I put my head on the pillow yesterday night at 10pm, I COMPLETELY passed out, but it was a great way to insure a good nights sleep!
So listen, anytime any of you want to ride with me, just let me know...!
