About Those 25 Weekly Rides...

Sometimes you just gotta set a lofty goal and go for it.

After all, anyone who has ever trained for a big event (say, for example, a half marathon or longer) usually makes the commitment well in advance of the actual event itself. Often times, it's the commitment that fuels the fire to put in the work to reach your goal. 

Such was the case with these 25 Weekly Rides of 2022...

First off, you may recall that it was in the summer of '21 that these weekly rides first began. My friend, Amy, had asked if I was interested in meeting up after work to ride out to the lake (situated at Rock Creek State Park). While she and I (sometimes with our spouses) had ridden this hilly bike path numerous times, we'd never contemplated it becoming a weekly ritual. That first post-workday ride (on Wednesday, 6/16/21) happened, and we decided to meet again the following week. Before we knew it, we'd been doing this ride, every week, for several weeks...thus, it became a quest of completing 20 consecutive rides, on this very path, before Summer of 2021 ended.  

So, when the 2022 "riding season" rolled around, it was a given we'd resume this weekly hilly bike path gig. Only, we decided to start the weekly rides much earlier than we did in 2021. These five bonus weeks not only gave us a jumpstart on the riding season, but also made the much awaited century ride  a reality several weeks later, (due to the extra training we were doing by default).

Our first HBPR (Hilly Bike Path Ride) of 2022 was christened on Wednesday, May 11th. Momma N blessed us with warm weather, but she also "sweetened the deal" with plenty of obnoxious wind. I'd also recently traded/upgraded my hybrid (Fritz) for a very similar (but slightly "taller") version...and this ride served as Krystal's baptism by fire.

 

Just like last year, these rides were met with (almost) equal parts eager anticipation and dread each week. What can I say? Hills keep all of us humble. It's one thing to climb them on a hike or a run, but quite another when you're on wheels. Let's just say gravity is even tougher to fight when the wheels on the bike want to go the opposite direction. BUT, that feeling of euphoria, upon cresting the final hill, is like none other.  

Much like with running, stalking the weather took up a great deal of time. Most of our rides happened on Wednesdays after work, but we did have to switch our riding days around a few times due to rain or  excessive wind.

My ride on August 20th "showered" me with rain in the final miles

Speaking of the weather, it was a bit of a guessing game on what to wear when the weather was iffy. Typically, it feels cooler on the bike than the actual temps (since you're moving at a good clip, you'll feel a decent breeze from the air flow). Add in some wind, though, and it gets complicated. Even though you'll have a more generous breeze, you'll have to work harder to stay in motion against the wind. Needless to say, in terms of heat and cold, we experienced a little bit of everything, over the course of those 25 rides.

fighting the late-season cold temps with capris, windbreaker and a headband

The bike path takes us out to Rock Creek State Park, where we loop around a parking lot (alongside the lake), and then head back. The lake was always a beautiful sight to see, whether is was sunny, windy, or cloudy. We also got to see all the trees in full bloom, with changing leaves, and with bare branches.

the lake...

Most of these rides were with Amy, but Barb joined us for a few as well. I even had to do a couple of them solo (when Amy was out of town). Krystal (my hybrid) was the obvious bike of choice as she is much lighter in weight than Gustavas (my mountain bike). There were a couple rides, though, that Gustavas had to fill-in when Krystal was in the shop (getting a tire repaired) and when her tires were flat and I couldn't find the air pump. Yikes, I'd forgotten how much harder those hills were with a much heavier bike!

climbing the first hill, on the return trip, back from the lake

Each week, these rides were usually 15 miles in distance. The route, out to the lake, is about a 13-mile round trip from my driveway; more often than not, I added on a couple of bonus miles afterwards as a bit of a cool-down. Doing the math, these weekly rides added 375 bonus miles to my summer biking (total "summer" miles, May through October, were 1,626). If we add in the elevation, that's another 699 feet of climbing each week (or 17,475 feet of climbing from May through October...just from these weekly rides). Not bad, huh!

So, yeah. We made it to 25 continuous weeks of hilly happy hour fun, via our bikes. The bar had been set pretty high, last year, with 20 rides. Now that we've made it to 25 rides, we'll definitely set our sights on repeating that quest in 2023. Or, maybe we'll entertain the notion of 30 rides. Hmmm, the idea has merit. Stay tuned!

Related posts:

Seize the Century!

10 Things About Those 20 Rides

Have you ever set a somewhat far-reaching goal, in regards to fitness? How do you feel about hills, on foot or on wheels? Do you utilize biking in your fitness regimen? 

I'm linking this with Kim and Zenaida for the Tuesday Topics Link-Up

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