Long time since last update

Since my last update, Stacey and I went up north for a weekend of riding. We left Thursday evening, stopping breifly in Cadallac for a 30 minute run along White Pine (?) trail. The trail appeared to have mile markers, and the interesting part was that the markers where we were running were in the high 80s and low 90s. Hmm...if the trail goes 90 miles south, I'd like to do a long ride on the cyclocross bike one weekend. Go from one end of the trail to the other on a Saturday, stay the night, and ride back the next day. Maybe post IMs this summer.

The riding is quite amazing up near Empire. One can head in any direction and be on pretty smooth and scenic roads. I think the worst road I was on all weekend would be as good as the best road near Birmingham. On a side note, I've discovered the best indicator of just how horrible Detroit and its suburbs are. No, I'm not referring to the nation-leading unemployment rate, nor am I referring to the nation's top or second highest (I can't remember which) obesity rate. You might think I'm referring to the highest murder rate, or the fact that about 1/3 of the city is vacant, but you'd be wrong. It's also not the fact that houses can be had for under $1,000 dollars in the city, nor is the impossibility of walking or biking anywhere except within two or three small downtown areas scattered throughout the suburbs. Here it is: Hour magazine, a semi-upscale publication consisting mostly of luxury goods ads and photos of "high-society" social events, named KID ROCK as Detroit's person of the year. Our person of the year is a one-hit wonder whose sole hit came 8 years or so ago? Is Kid Rock even a B-list celebrity outside of Detroit? You know when Kid Rock is your city's standard for human excellence, you are in trouble.

Anyhow, back to a discussion of the good part of the state. So I got in an 87 mile ride on Friday and followed it up with a 35 minute run. I felt great most of the ride and the whole run. I rode down through Frankfort, Benzonia, Beulah and maybe some other towns. I rode around the aptly-named Crystal lake, where I came oh-so-close to getting hit by a car. The driver was sitting idly in the shoulder with his flashers on for the two minutes or so that he was in my line of sight. I was riding at 25 or 26 mph on the flat, smooth road, and as I approached the car I took a quick glance behind me to make sure I could move to the center of the lane to pass the car, which was blocking the shoulder and a foot or two of the lane. I turn back around and, to my great surprise, the drive had pulled out into the two-lane road and was actually had his car perpendicular to the direction of travel - he was making a U-turn after sitting idly for at least the two minutes that I could see him and did not even look behind him. I slammed on the brakes, had my back tire skid out, let off the brakes so I could regain control, and began to brace myself for the impact with the vehicle. As I braced myself, I was also able to steer my bike to barely miss the back end of the car. I turned around a yelled a few choice, unprintable words at the driver, but otherwise continued riding on. An adrenaline spike left my shaking for several minutes afterwards, and it took a while to get back into a ryhthm riding.

Other than that incident, the traffic was very good (i.e., minimal). Far fewer cars passed than I'm used to, except when I inadvertently went off route and took a section of a main road, M-22, that was fairly highly traveled.

An interesting tower-esque modern home.

Saturday included 103 miles or so of riding. Stacey road with her dad, Ralph, just as she did Friday, and they took off a while before me. I timed things just right, and was able to catch them exactly when they reached a state park at the tip of Leelanau peninsula. We got in a couple quick photos and were on our way. The route home from that park is perhaps my favorite route I've ever done, or at least the last 30 miles or so are. There are winding hills that overlook lakes with great views. I took some of these pictures while riding (actually I was going uphill away from the lake, and I just pointed the camera over my shoulder without looking where I was shooting...the pictures turned out surprisingly good).

I actually stopped to take this picture:

And there were while riding (taken midway up a hill):

I stopped and got a Monster-brand energy drink around mile 75, and that thing was like an amazing drug. I could only drink about 80% of it, as it was quite massive, and I poured the remainder down the drain. I half expected it to melt the grating, so strong is the stuff. I felt full of energy afterwards, and was singing to myself for the rest of the ride.

I followed the ride up with a 45 minute run. I went that far because I wanted to run to the bottom of a large hill thinking I might catch Stacey and she and Ralph were finishing up the ride. The hill has a brutal reputation, but really isn't that tough. It's basically two miles long, with most of the hill being a pedestrian grade that I can big-ring up. However, toward the end, there are one or two steep sections, then a 12 or 15% gradient (I can't remember which, but it's marked on the road) for a hundred or two hundred yards. As luck would have it, Stacey and Ralph were at the bottom of the steep section just as I reached them, so I turned around and raced them uphill while running.

Stacey and I went for a short swim that evening in Lake Ann, where her parents were looking at property. A tiny town (one restaurant, a general store, and that's about it), but a nice lake. The house they're looking at is right on the lake and in nice proximity to a state park and to good riding. A cool place, indeed.

On Sunday it was just Stacey and I, and I got in about 56 miles while turning around every few miles for Stacey. I'd try to turn around right after a climb so I could re-do it, and I started the ride with a moderate to high effort level on each hill (~300 W or so). I felt good at the start, but at the end my legs were shot enough that I could only hit maybe 250 W, if that, on the hills. Another good route though, taking us around Glen Lake, Traverse Lake, and some others, up by an abandoned ski resort (Sugar Loaf Mountain or something like that) and through a few decent small towns.

The total for the weekend was a not too shabby >240 miles riding, plus a bit of running and just a smidgen of swimming.

This week included a few good swims, a short but intense ride, and a double run day (2:45 total). I'm feeling good with just one month to IMLP. My only doubt is my swimming, but even though my times in the pool aren't yet where I'd like them to be, I've got to remind myself I'm vastly improved over last year. I should be able to easily knock several minutes off my 1:12 swim, which I need to do to set me up for a spike-free ride that will put me in sight of the FOP much earlier than last year.

Oh, and my morning weight hasn't changed - 160 +/- 1 lbs.