Long ride

Stacey and I headed up to Stoney Creek Metropark, this time by car, for a 5 hour ride. The park has a main loop of about 6 or 7 miles, plus to off-shoots that add another 5 miles. It takes me about 35 minutes to ride the estimated 11-12 miles (I don't have a CPU on my bike, so I don't know the actual distance). While traveling the same route 9 times of the course of 5 hours is not the most exciting, adventurous or interesting way to do a long ride, there are several advantages. I'm never too far from a bathroom or drinking fountain, I can pack a bunch of food in the car instead of carrying it all or stopping at a gas station to pick something else up, and there are no lights and only one stop sign. I can ride at a target HR (and soon power) without being interrupted or, since I'm always pretty close by anyhow, having to turn around for Stacey. I only got off my bike twice during the whole ride. Plus, the terrain isn't too bad. There is one climb that takes about 3 minutes to do, and several others that are more gradual or shorter but still provide a significant amount of climbing when traversed nine times.

I rode pretty steadily with a few harder efforts where my HR stayed around 150-155 bpm for 5 to 20 minutes to catch Stacey, drop someone that was trying to draft of me, and catch some guy a mile or so up the path that, as I discovered upon passing him, was wearing an IMLP jacket. After all, as BSNYC says, a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you. That actually reminds me of another benefit of riding in Stoney Creek - there are lots of riders to pass, keeping motivation high. Average HR for the ride including 10 minute cool-down but excluding 10 minute warm-up: 139 bpm.

I felt pretty strong the whole way, but probably didn't eat enough. I ate the same per hour as last year (typically 1 Clif Bar + 1/2 sports drink, or about 350 calories/hour), but by the third hour I was really hunger and ate probably 500 calories that hour, in addition to drinking about 50 ounces of water. Next time I will try to increase my calories consumption slightly at the beginning so that it stays steady throughout the ride.

Oh, and the park may have okay open water swimming (depending on whether or not life guards allow swimmers outside of the designated swimming area...and whether the water is not too gross to swim in ...weeds scare me) and trails for running or MTBing.

Afterwards, Stacey and I went for an hour walk on the trails in the park. I think it sped up recovery, as I feel good today.