Walsh Road

 

Elevation data taken from MapMyRide

This is a photo of Walsh Road from the book "Dirt Road Washtenaw" by Rob Pulpicher, I have been exploring the wonderful world out of my backdoor on dirt roads throughtout my township and surrounding communities.  Last night I rode this section of Walsh Road and yes it is that steep.  The ride back was challenging, however there are dozens of rolling hills like this along the route I took.  Last night I rode west on Barker to Merrill, south to Walsh and west to Mast and returned.  It was 10 miles of roller coaster hills and beautiful countryside. The ride took me through portions of Northfield and Webster Townships.

Cousins



Cousins Sophie, Connie and Mary



Bunch of girl cousins on a shopping trip

Cousin Jimmy Joins us for Lunch

Mary's Horse Lacy

The blacksmith has a large audience and the city slickers watch him in action shoeing horses.

Country Roads and Famlies

Back from a great vacation to visit family for a reunion!  Three sisters and a niece traveled out to the heartland in Kansas to visit a cousin who has a horse farm.  We spent 4 days on the go and relaxing too, sharing memories and family tales with bales of laughter and singing to my cousin Jim's guitar with cousins gathered all around.  Heavenly.

I came home hankering for bike riding and longing for being out in the country, tonight I headed to the south west quadrant of the township for a great bike ride on hard packed dirt roads with gentle rolling hills and acres of farmland.  Summer is waning and fall is in the air and the deer are on the move.  I spotted 29 tonight in various places along my route and far less cars, 5 in total.  There were times when all I heard was my own breathing, what a peaceful evening.

My total for last week #21 was 46.06 miles for only 3 days of riding with 5.23 hrs spent on the bike.  No bad for a short riding week.  I'm over 200 miles for the month of August and over 780 miles for this outdoor riding season.  I love stats!  I need to get busy and post some photos of my trip.

Racheting It Up

Spending more time on individual rides = more miles pile up.  Last three days of riding I'm at 46 miles and 5.25 hours spent on the bike pedaling. Getting stronger.

#20 Milestone?

Is there something particular about the number 20?  I believe that physically there is.  I would not have thought that but having regularly gone out on rides in the 12-15 mile range and now and again 17-18 miles range there is something particularly different crossing a 20 mile ride.  Maybe not for others, and certainly by biking standards 20 is not a very big number.  Many avid cyclists don't really consider they've gone on a ride unless it's at least that number.  There are a great number of people who regularly cycle 25-30-40 or more miles.  The 100 mile mark century is usually reserved for something special but many who cycle do a few of those per season or once per month.

I am not that kind of accomplished and mentally and physically I noticed a difference in a ride of just a tad over 20 miles yesterday.  I often come home thinking I could have gone farther and full of energy.  Yesterday I was tired after my ride.  Not dragging my behind around or stiff or sore, just worn.  I felt it in my muscles, legs, arms and body.  I didn't hurt but I knew I worked my body and my mind to get to those miles.  The route was rolling hills and gravel roads.  20 miles of hills with 2 significant climbs is a bit more difficult than a flat rail trail of same mileage.

Thursday I was on a quest to pile up some miles and traveled the Huron Valley Rail Trail  from Downtown South Lyon to the spur that leads to Kensington.  I felt strong and decided to go for it even though it was a bit later in the day and I knew that a difficult climb waited.  I'd be lucky to come in just before dark.  I climbed that monster going out to Kensington and then coming back.  Going out is westbound and that face is mighty steep, according to MapMyRide it's a catagory 5 climb.  The decent in that direction is nearly two miles.  The east bound coming back face is  conversley a two mile grind uphill with a very swift and scary decent.  I managed them both with some effort then powered it up on the flat ride back.  That was 18 miles and I didn't feel near as spent, I returned home with energy to spare.  Maybe 20 is a mythical number to cross in my head, but whatever it is, it is now crossed.  On to 25......?

Week #19 And #20 Mileage Totals And The Ride Experience

I just realized that I had not posted my weekly riding totals last week, so here it is:  Week #19 56.18 miles and the week that just ended #20 is 55.76.  #19 had 6 days of riding and #20 had 5 days of riding.  I've been working to up my riding intensity so I've used a harder gear than I was accustomed to and it's boosted my MPH which translates into more miles in the same given time out on a ride.  This week I also made a point to up my time on the bike on my rides so again it translates into higher mileages.  The goal is not to rack up miles as much as it is to rachet up the intensity and duration.  Fitness is my aim.  More time on the bike has increased my energy level all the way around in so much of what I do. 

I love my work but it is also very stressful and intense riding melts it away.  I loose myself in the elements of being outdoors.  Sun, trees, sky, sounds of my bike, woodsy and fresh cut grass smells and the rhythm of my legs going round and round and my breathing in and out all create an intense focus.   I feel like I become my surroundings, melt right into nature so there's no distinction between me, my bike and the out of doors. It's nearly impossible for any thing or thoughts to intrude on this experience.  I get lost in my surroundings.  I return from rides completly rejuvinated mentally and spiritually.  It's accompanied by a good feeling of physical exertion.  Returning from a ride makes me feel satiated. 

However every day is not intense riding and today's ride was equally satisfying but in a different way.  Yesterday I logged 18 miles and made it a hammerfest, I headed out to a flat rail trail to crank it out and took a side spur that has the biggest hill I ever encounter on any of my rides.  I rode up it, down it, beyond it and back agin to retrace my route.  I tackled that beast of a hill from both directions, coming and going.  It was an all out effort.  Today was a mellow smelling the flowers and enjoying the sceanery  leisure ride.  They're all good and they're all fun!

Oh Boy! I Won! Summer Games Contest From Let's Go Ride A Bike

My winning prize!  Beautiful!

Wow, I just happened to log onto Facebook and found out from an online friend in the UK that I won the bike contest online that I had entered.  Cool!  A gorgeous set of panniers.  Yay me!  Here is the link to the LGRAB website (it can also be found under my favorite sites on the right hand side of this page.  But this link is to the blog post announcing some of the contestants and catagories. 


It's so much fun to try new things, the contest was a big win all the way around because I tried several new things I might otherwise not have tried.  And now I'll be getting a set of beautiful panniers.  Yipee!

Practice Hill Run

What you don't find out your own back door? A mere mile and a half from home I found a short route to practice hill climbing on. Lately I have spent a great deal of time traveling the dirt back roads around my community, I had a route to a County Park that I followed several times. Often I wondered what lie ahead if I continued on the road I was on and didn't turn to take the road to the park. On Monday I decided to explore it.  I found a set of four rolling hills.  Whee!  In a short span of just over a mile and a half I had the opportunity to practice hills and momentum.  I had so much fun I went back on Wednesday and did them again.  These are going to be part of my routine and I hope to tackle that route once a week for climbing practice.  They are clustered together, steep and have very short pinnacle tops.  According to MapMyRide of just this short section there is one catagory 5 climb in it.

It's a great workout plus it's a lot of fun too.  Gets a bit scary on the downhills with dirt roads but thrilling too.  Speeds are just above 25 mph and with gravel, rocks and very limited sight distance it does get hairy!   It's also a beautiful ride with a very thick tree canopy overhead that keeps you in the shade, portions are like being in a deep forest.  Slightly spooky, very cool. 

If I manage to keep this into a weekly routine I bet I get stronger pretty quick.

Commuting And Cool Down

Not cool down from exercise but our temps in Michigan have cooled down from the hot summer heat wave that affected most of the mid-west and nation.  It sure makes commuting enjoyable and I have commuted every day this week, luckily all meetings I've had this week have been right in town and I can bike to them too. 

This morning was the lovliest of mornings in a long while.  No humidity, mile high blue skies, no wind and cool temps.  There was the hint of fall in the air, it made me just a little sad even though I love the fall season it was just the reminder that time is flying past.  Also the middle school sign that I pass daily changed from saying "have a great summer vacation" to "school starts September 6th."  Thud.  There goes summer.  Well, not really but the signs are in the air.

Weekly Recap #18 For The 2011 Outdoor Season

Last Friday I closed week #18 with 42.41 miles for the week.  Not as much as I would have liked but a lot for the short number of days that I was able to ride.  I had one rest day and was gone for 3 days for a conference out of town but did manage an hour bike ride on a rental while I was away.  I had no way of measuring the ride except by time and knowing my average minus photo opportunities along the way.  I am feeling strong after a nice long ride (for me) and looking forward to my ride tomorrow with the group of back road riders.