Tour Prep: Back and Forth LSD

My friend Bob wondered how someone my age can even think about riding 60 miles day in and day out on a bike tour. Well, Bob, I ride 30 miles day in and day out just getting to and from the office. I ride them long and slow, what distance runners used to call LSD (long, slow distance).

In June I racked up 591 miles commuting to work 21 times. All but 2 commutes and 19 miles were done on Big Nellie, my Tour Easy recumbent. (Little Nellie, my Bike Friday, picked off a couple of shortened commutes.)

I rode another 146 1/2 miles on the weekends including the Tour Dem Parks, Hon event in Baltimore. My longest ride was a 46 1/2 mile jaunt along the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers on Big Nellie.

On June 29, I rode my 100th bike commute of the year. This is a testimony to persistence, to not getting sick, and to not taking days off.

The combined 737.5 miles was my longest month of the year.

This week I crossed over 4,000 miles for the year to 4,057.5 miles. The miles are nearly evenly distributed across all four bikes. I commuted through the winter on The Mule, my Specialized Sequoia touring bike. Next I rode Little Nellie for about 1,000 miles. Then I switched to Big Nellie. In a week, after I polish off another 1,000 miles, I will switch to my Cross Check full time, as I did for most of last summer.

I also managed to squeeze in a solo day hike on the Appalachian Trail and a couple of concerts and baseball games. So if you haven’t seen me around town, I’ve been a busy boy.

Finally, June was my second month not getting hit by an SUV. We try to look on the positive side of things here at the Rootchopper Institute.

I already have plenty of stuff scheduled for July: two baseball games, a family reunion or a funeral (or both), and a fundraising event (the Tour de Fat). Throw in two or three doctor’s appointments and a shed rehab and your looking at a rather full slate. Wave if you see me ride by.