Conquering 40 Miles (not that valiantly)

Well, it was quite a ride.

We set out from our apartment at about 2:30 in the afternoon.

Our fearless leader, Kyle, arrived with his aluminum frame single speed while Dave and I were on our carbon fiber wonders equipped with gears for all terrains.  Kyle wondered if he had, perhaps, taken the wrong bike with him for this adventure, but it turned out that even on the steepest hills we encountered, he was still more than able to keep up.

We headed south on Dobson Road until it ended it the quiet retirement village of Sun Lakes. We took a rough ride on Riggs Road until we reached the 347.  The road had a great shoulder, but oh my was it scary to try and take a left to get back off it (we had to cross over 3 lanes of 60 mph traffic in either direction).  We then treked into the Ahwahtukee Foothills where we met up with my favorite land forms to encounter while on a bicycle: hills.  We turned around after a couple of climbs and headed back toward home.  

It ended up being a 42 mile ride- our longest ride yet!  I think the last 6 miles or so were the worst on me.  Kyle didn't seem bothered, and Dave kept on peddling without complaint, but goodness was I biting my lip and trying to hold back the tears.  I don't think my legs have felt that kind of pain since my car wreck in September.  Ouch!  

After a pain killer, a little dinner, some stretches, and a good night's rest though, I mostly just felt triumphant.

Dave and I want to send out some thanks to Kyle for his encouraging words about how remarkable passing the 40 mile marker is and for biking with us through our first 40.

Cyclists in Training

We've done all of our training thus far in the state of Arizona.  Luckily, Arizona has a varied landscape- full of hills and mountains when climbing exercises are in order, long-running flat lands for distance training, and plenty of busy traffic (I don't know that the cars are necessarily that helpful, but they're certainly out here).  Arizona is also a glorious state in which to train because it seems to be quite warmer than others in the U.S.

Our first big ride of the year was the Casa Grande Century on January 6 (why do they hold this annual event on January 6?  "because we can" I believe is what the brochure said).  We did the 34 mile ride- not quite the full century then I suppose- but the organizers still deemed us worthy of a very classy pair of neon pink cycling socks adorned with a scorpion emblem and neon green flames at the toes.  We felt like such champions for finishing this ride and got a taste of the adrenaline that courses through you when you get to take part in an organized cycling event.

We next traveled the San Juan Road in South Mountain and the Usery Mountain Pass toward the middle of the month to hone our hills skills (I'll note here that if you've not gotten to experience what a Liz temper tantrum might be like, that you should probably accompany us on one of these rides up a large hillside).  

This past Saturday, February 9, we rode with GABA (I don't exactly know what this acronym stands for, but I assume it's some sort of 'bicycle association') on a route they call the "Ahwa-Footy" which goes through the Ahwahtukee Foothills.  This ended up being a 37 mile stretch for Dave and I due to our inabilities to 1) keep up with folks who seem to be able to hold a 20 mph pace and have the route memorized, and 2) read maps properly- especially when they're trying to direct you through suburbs full of cul-de-sacs and like-named side streets.  We are really amazed and motivated by the endurance of this group of cyclists and plan to join them for more of their Saturday morning rides.  We also love that the group is so big that they tend to take up entire lanes of roadways.  The mass looks cool and acts as a car repellent.

This Sunday, our friend and fellow Calvin College alum, Kyle Wigboldy, will be taking us past our 40 mile mark and training up our still-young cycling skills.  I'll post more about this ride after we're done it.

Our Bikes

This is me and Dave.  And these are our bikes.  We bought them specifically for this tour and believe that they are just the right tools for the job.  Dave has a Trek Madone 5.2 and I have a Specialized Ruby.  Both bikes have carbon fiber frames, high quality Shimano components, and two water bottle holders to enable our hydration :).  You would think that the carbon fiber would help us to reach high speeds while on the roads- but you might also be mistaken.  More about our training thus far will follow in later posts.