I did it!

I mostly do out and back rides, after about 10 miles out my legs start to get tight.  So I always plan to turn around near the 12 mile mark and end up at about 25 miles.  I ride a very old (late 70's model) Fuji team bike.

Time is almost always limited for me.  So training for anything more than an hour pushed the limits with my family.  I infrequently get the time to go for 1.5 hours.  Yesterday I was blessed with a day off and day care for my daughter for the whole day!  So I planned a long ride.

I mostly ride for speed.  I'm still learning the cadence thing, but I get frustrated when I'm going less than 15 mph.  I feel like I should be racing and training faster.   The few times that I've rode with other, more experienced riders.  They ride fast for training.

All in all, I'm still new to the triathlon thing and this was my first attempt at anything more than 25 miles.

I know time for training is an issue -- I have 4 kids and a wife in school myself -- and I've also been disappointed by my cycling progress. (Heck, I certainly could run a lot faster as well.) But, I have colleagues that belong to the Tri County Bicycle Association, I knew that they have group rides all over mid-Michigan, you don't need to be a member to ride along, so I recently went on one. I couldn't believe how friendly everyone was, and our average speed for the 20 mile ride was a couple ticks faster than I normally get, somewhat due to drafting, somewhat to comraderie, but also somewhat due to one's own competitive nature. Being with faster folks made me faster than I knew I was capable of. I haven't had a chance to get back to another ride since this one in mid-August, but at least I know I can now keep up.

Great job on your new milestone, keep it up.

You can find a listing of the TCBA rides at http://www.biketcba.org/

Way to go! I was super stoked when I broke the 40mile mark. My legs hurt with the 18mph average, but it was good pain.

Keep up the good work!

Andy,