Week 20
Where last week was a triumphant conquest of my seven continuous weeks of mileages shorter than chart goals, this week has been a week in which the weather was unpredictable and annoying, and my penchant for making excuses caused me to flip out on Thursday and remember that I’m supposed to be a tough cyclocommuter. I rode 10.5 miles to work in the rain and ended up requiring a new cyclometer at the end of that ride.
On Friday, I blew away my previous morning commute best by 14 seconds to slam the gauntlet down right and storm to work at 19.3 mph. After arriving at work, I checked my back rim, which is in the process of cracking lengthwise, and noticed more cracks near more spoke holes. I had the rim examined at Outfitter. My repair guy recommended avoiding riding it again until the new rim has arrived.
I had taken the bike in to have it checked after I bit it. I had the derailleur examined, because my gears were skipping, and we discovered the problem with the rim (“You’re not going to be able to keep it in true, man.”) and put in the warranty paperwork about ten days ago. I’m starting to get impatient to receive the rim, because I’m still going to have to take the bike in, leave it, and let them relace the spokes to my current hub/cassette. Hopefully, I get the rim soon, so I can get back out there and leave more asphalt behind me.
So this week–windy, rainy, and whiny–was kind of a bust. A little drizzle on Tuesday made me wimp out 6 miles short, it “seemed” like it was going to rain on me on Monday and Wednesday, and now my rim is kaput. I’m only 110 miles short of my goal this week. Let’s hope I get back on track soon, so you can all read fewer of my excuses and more of my triumphs.
17 May: 22.19 mi; 1:11:57 (18.5 mph avg; 27.0 mph max)
19 May: 28.94 mi; 1:33:07 (18.6 mph avg; 25.5 mph max)
20 May: 28.75 mi; 1:31:45 (18.8 mph avg; 26.0 mph max)
Total : 79.88 mi; 4:16:49 (18.6 mph avg; 27.0 mph max)
Month so far: 459.48 mi.
2005 so far : 2890.15 mi (57.80% of goal).
2005 goal : 5000.00 mi.
Remaining : 2109.85 mi (65.93 mi / wk avg)
No Comments Yet