April Joins the 1000 Mile Club

This was not my intention.  Joe Hildreth put the bug in my ear when he asked if I was going to ride 1000 miles this month.  I think I laughed.  My old record was 829 miles set last year.  just needed 171 more to get the grand.  I've been beating all previous monthly records for over a year now.  Why not only beat this one but get the fourth digit?  But all one needs for a 1000 mile month is time and good weather.  Somehow I managed to find both.

My basic commute to work is 27 miles.  I can add an extra mile in the morning with getting up earlier.  I can add extra miles after work as long as there are no obligations.  When I feel the need to pile on miles I usually aim for 30 miles days instead of the 27 or 150 miles commuting instead of the 135 base.  currently I commute on a trek Soho with a Nexus 7 speed internal hub.  Heavy but suits my needs and is weatherproof.

The best time for those like me that work Monday through Friday is the weekend.  But April had some bad weekends for riding.  The first weekend was Easter and because we hosted the meal major rides did not happen.  Had to clean, cook and eat.  Saturday I managed to get 27 miles, 17 of which was pulling the bike trailer to Hy Vee for a massive grocery run.  Just 6 on Sunday.  Ate too much but rode to gray's Lake with Mary and Craig and met Lisa there too.

The RRVT Loop 111 miles.  The LeMond and Mary's Trek 1600

The following weekend was the big one.  111 miles doing the Raccoon River Valley Trail loop.  31 on Sunday on tandem, its 2015 debut, in the heavy wind with Craig and Lisa to the Lean To.  If April is to be remembered it should be for the wind.  It has been a miserably windy month.

The next weekend was a minor washout.  Rain.  No big ride on Saturday except for the Fun Haters Ride.  I clocked in with 8 miles.  Sunday was not much better but squeaked in 18 miles on the Trek 2200 with Burley on another Hy Vee run to Windsor Heights with Mary.  We saw Steve Fuller on the Bill Riley Trail and beat the rain home by 1/2 hour.

Bondurant Adventure on map

The final weekend looked bleak with rain.  We waited until 1 pm before departing for Bondurant on the tandem.  We rode to the southern terminus of the Gay Lea Wilson Trail north to the 4 Mile Creek Trail and caught the new connection from Berwick to Bondurant.  On the way home we took the Ankeny connection and the Neal Smith home.  Seemed like a a lot but 48 miles.  The next day I busted out 46 to martensdale and back by myself on the LeMond.  That was it for weekends.

When I saw Jesus and realized that I was screwed.

Monday I thought I was sitting pretty.  I had a mere 5 days of 27 miles each to the end of the month.  27 miles is the basic commute to and fro work.  Easy.  But then I looked at my calendar.  There was not a "31" in the box for Friday.  Instead there was a picture of Jesus.  I lost a day.  Quickly firing up Google Drive and looking at a saved copy of April's Bike Log revealed the truth so soon.  When I created the April 2015 log from the Excel template I mistakenly placed April 5 twice.

I had 3 days to make up the 27 miles.  No, 2.5 days to do that.  So that day I rode 62 miles instead of the 27 I thought I had to ride.  I messed around after work and did some Greenbelt and RRVT loops and finally just headed home stopping at Fareway for the extra 6 miles.  I was now at 40 miles.  Needed 14 more to complete the missing 27.  Once again I grabbed the LeMond and rode 7 miles out on the trail and 7 back.  And just as I was placing chicken in the oven I got the text from Mary to meet her on the Neal Smith Trail.  and extra 8 miles for insurance.  Yeah, I slept well that night.

The rest of the week could now be the basic 27 miles each without padding or pressure. I was about at the 2 mile marker on the Greenbelt when I hit that magic number.  Now April is up there with May, June, July and August as months that have seen me ride 1000 miles.