Another month goes by and I’m still trying, without success, to get in some regular long-distance bike rides. Every time I have the hours free that are needed to ride for more than 50 or 60 miles, it rains. Still, it’s good for the garden I guess!
May did at least turn out to be a little drier than April and, as a result, I managed to notch up a total of 620.66 miles. Almost all of that was made up of commuting mileage with just 114 miles being ridden whilst not on the way to or from work. The longest of the rides was a 57.73 mile trip over the border into Nottinghamshire, to test out the GPS routing on my new Garmin 800.
Taking a break for food and drink.
Stats from the Nottinghamshire ride...
Total distance - 57.73 miles.
Total time - 3hrs 57secs.
Max speed - 33.1 mph.
Average speed - 19.1 mph.
Calories burnt - 2058.
Average heart rate - 156 bpm.
Max heart rate - 179 bpm.
Garmin details.
Having only used the Garmin to log the distance of my rides up until this point I decided it was time to jump in at the deep end and see just how good the guidance feature of it really was. The evening before the ride I plotted a route that included as many roads and junctions that I’d never ridden before as possible to give me a route that would fit in with the free time I had. If it all went wrong I’d be left high and dry as I’d have no idea where I was! Need I have worried? Not a chance! The Edge 800 performed faultlessly. Over the next few weeks (weather permitting) I’ll post a Blog update devoted to my experiences of living with a Garmin. I’m still learning just what this clever little bit of kit is capable of but so far so good.
So, after five months of mixed weather, and a shortage of ride time, my mileage at the end of May had reached 2465.26 miles. I’m a little behind were I’d like to be but at least I’m over 270 miles ahead of this time last year. The 6,000 mile target for the year is still on!
This past weekend I had hoped to make the most of the quiet roads, whilst most people enjoyed the Jubilee celebrations, and attempt another 100 mile ride. The weather put paid to that idea and, in the end, the only chance I had to get out was for a very easy 17 mile loop around Derby and Alvaston this morning. Not a great start to June but at least I have all summer to look forward to! Maybe!
The plus side to all of this changeable weather is that the garden is doing rather well out of it. Pretty much all the summer bedding is doing well and many of the perennial plants are coming into flower too. All we need now is for the temperature to pick up a little and we may be able to sit outside and enjoy it all - after I’ve been out and ridden one of my bikes that is!
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