We Made it to DC!
Our Dawn Patrol team made it across the country to DC from La Push, Washington in our virtual Great American Ride, finishing in 12th place! We’ve decided to continue logging the miles as we turn and immediately start working our way back to Washington state by June 6th. I had been tracking my progress and saw that I was in 12th place out of 408 riders (now I’m in 9th place), and my friend Chuck also let our team know that I was the second place female in the ride, but that the third place female was less than two miles behind me. With this little bit of new information, I’ll be pushing hard for three more weeks! Just when I thought I’d be chilling a little bit with my indoor riding… Nope, I’m far too competitive for that kind of nonsense. 😉
Overview of the Week
Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Cycling: 50 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 15.8 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:37 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 65° in basement, 63° and raining outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and tank top
Walking: 3.09 miles
• Average pace: 15:38 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 134 feet
• Start time: 11:59 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 69° and cloudy, climbing to 71°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor (changed into slacks at church)
After reading on Kim‘s blog that she was planning to ride inside, I reached out to see if she wanted to chat. Luck was with me and we rode a few miles together before going our separate ways. It was National Ride a Bike Day so what better way to celebrate than a ride with a friend even if we were both stuck inside and almost a thousand miles apart.
I finished up my ride too late to make it in time for the 10:30 mass even if I drove, but in plenty of time to walk to the 12:30 service.
The morning’s ride earned me the Great American Ride May the 4th Be With You badge. Say what? This is a cycling event and it’s National Ride a Bike Day and the badge is for Star Wars?
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Cycling: 18 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 15.5 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 9:27 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66° in basement, 68° and mostly cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
The 1 Month Down, 1 Month to Go! badge was up for grabs so once again I sneaked in a ride on a day I normally don’t ride just to earn the badge. In fact, I gave up a walk to fit in the ride.
Tuesday
Cycling: 10.1 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 15.3 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:29 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66° in basement, 59° partly cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and tank top
Cycling: 42.26 miles
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Average speed: 13.1 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 1,624 feet
• Start time: 8:24 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Purcellville loop
• Weather: 61° and mostly sunny, climbing to 69° and mostly cloudy
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, light jacket, and fingerless gloves (took jacket off 8 miles in)
Once again I multitasked on my spin bike while training an early morning client and then joined my husband for a delightful outdoor ride. We saw horses, adorable baby goslings, and a not-so-adorable black rat snack. This ride also earned me the Great American Ride 50 Miles of Riding badge.
Wednesday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Walking: 2.06 miles
• Average pace: 15:33 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 87 feet
• Start time: 3:36 PM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 73° and cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
I had a busier than usual work day, but went for a walk when I got home rather than collapsing on the sofa as I would have preferred.
Thursday
Cycling: 25 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 15.9 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 5:59 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 65° in basement, 55° and cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Cycling: 32.4 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 14.3 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 981 feet
• Start time: 9:48 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Sterling/Leesburg loop
• Weather: 68° and mostly sunny, climbing to 75° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
Gardening: 1.5 hours
After an early morning spin with Kim, I went out on a ride with my friend Betsy. My ride with Kim earned me the Great American Rail-Trail Launch Day badge and my ride with Betsy gave me plenty of sunshine and fresh air.
Later in the afternoon I got outside for some gardening – mostly weeding because I wasn’t able to apply pre-emergent weed control in late February/early March due to recovering from my appendectomy. The May rain is making the weeds grow “like weeds.” Also doing well, are the peonies I transplanted from my mom’s garden a few years ago. Both the coral and pink are in full bloom, but the white (my favorite) are all in the big fat bud stage. I love cutting the white peonies and putting them in a Mason jar to place in the center of our kitchen table. Maybe they’ll be ready for pictures next week.
Friday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Walking: 2.2 miles
• Average pace: 15:19 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 7:50 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66° inside, 54° (feels like 48°) and raining outside
• What I wore: shorts and sports bra
With rain outside, I begrudgingly walked on my treadmill. Wind chased the rain off by mid-afternoon, but I was still happy to have my walk behind me even though it turned into a beautiful day (very windy, though).
Saturday
Cycling: 62 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 15.6 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 5:55 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 63° in basement, 45° (feels like 39°) and clear outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Cycling: 4.4 miles
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Average speed: 13.5 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 193 feet
• Start time: 12:04 PM
• Location: trail and road to and from the bike shop
• Weather: 65° sunny, and windy, climbing to 67°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
Gardening: 30 minutes
With nine hours in the car for a down-and-back visit with my mom for Mother’s Day today, I made sure to get in a nice long weekend ride. I started my ride early so I’d later have time to ride by the bike shop and pickup my new Brooks saddle plus do a little gardening before cleaning up for my own Mother’s Day celebration in the evening with the fam. This ride earned me the Garmin 20 Hours of Cycling in May badge.
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog these past weeks, here’s what you missed…
- • Sunday – Weekly RunDown: April 27 – May 3 / Promoting the Importance of Physical Activity
- • Tuesday – 40-Mile Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail Loop Ride
Questions:
- • On Sunday did you celebrate National Ride a Bike Day? ~ Indeed!
- • What cute baby animals have you seen recently on an outdoor workout? ~ The goslings have been the only babies I’ve seen so far this spring.
- • Which workout did you feel was most successful this week? ~ I pushed hard the last 10 miles of Thursday’s ride and I was on my gravel bike which makes me work harder. It was a wonderful ride!
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
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Way to go on those cycling miles this week! I enjoyed my tread bootcamp this week for a nice change. Happy Mother’s Day to you
Thanks, Deborah! Happy Mother’s Day to you as well.
Those flowers are so pretty! Perfect for Mother’s Day!
I’m glad you are feeling so good after all you’ve been through!
Thank you, Coco!
Happy Mother’s Day!!! What a good week– glad you’ve been able to be so active!
Thanks, and happy Mother’s Day to you, too, Melissa!
Wow, that sounds like a fun challenge. Sounds like you had a great week of indoor and outdoor riding. There were also badges galore, which adds to the fun.
To answer one of your questions, I had a couple strength sessions this week that felt really good (wait, who am I???) Still waiting to get back to running.
Happy Mother’s Day!
We (Dawn Patrol) have been having a lot of fun encouraging each other during our virtual challenge and it was just what I needed to get back on track with my cycling. Glad you’re enjoying your strength training. It’s such an important component of a healthy lifestyle, especially as we get older.
Happy Mother’s Day to you as well!
Huge congrats to the Dawn Patrol team – what a ride! Coast to coast and heading straight back? That’s some serious commitment. Well done on being 2nd place female with someone just two miles behind! I admire your competitive fire – I’d be exactly the same. Nothing like a little pressure to kick things into high gear!
Also, your peonies are stunning, but I’m especially partial to the white ones too. Hope they open up in time for next week’s bouquet!
Thanks, Catrina, and I had a feeling you’d act similarly. 😉
We’re supposed to get a lot of rain in the next few days and I hope it doesn’t beat up the poor little white peony blooms.
Awh, I love peonies! I miss seeing those every spring at my old house. You are seriously rocking the ride (both inside and outdoors). I celebrated National Ride a Bike Day with you, and also later ours 😉
Thanks, Kim, it’s been fun getting back into the saddle and it’s always a treat when our schedules align. 🙂
Congrats to your team!!
It rained the whole time I was in Florida… I am so behind in my gardening.
I ran a 5k race last Sunday and I have 10 miler in 2 weeks. I need to get in more miles… gulp.
Thanks, Darlene! What a bummer that it rained most of the time that you were in Florida. 🙁
Way to go on a great ride!
Nope, no bike riding for me. For one… it’s been raining. And for two, I need to pump up my tires.
I always love reading where you’re off to next. Your adventures are so exciting!
Then you’ll enjoy reading about this summer’s road trip! It’s going to be awesome!
Pretty flowers! I planted some new flowers but it looks like they aren’t coming up yet. I haven’t been much of a gardener in the past but I’m trying to get at it this year!
Do you like your new saddle? Does it feel a lot different than your previous saddle?
Yes, I love my new saddle, but I already had the same one on my gravel bike so I was very familiar with it. It’s made by Brooks England (C13 Carved model and is the 158MM wide version). It moves with your movements and as my bike mechanic said, “It’s like sitting in a hammock.” 😉
Of course you need to keep pushing on the bike! Nice! So good to see you’re back in action!
I used to get into that competitive mode no matter what if I rode the indoor bike on Zwift, got into a sprint and saw someone try to pass me. That was one of the things that made cycling fun for me! At the moment our indoor bike is disassembled and my husband uses his road bike with a Wahoo gadget so for cardio I’m confined to hill walking only (which I don’t mind at this time of the year).
I love your peonies!
Thanks, Susanne!
Do you have plans to get your indoor bike back up and running anytime soon so you have it as an option if you have a rainy spell?