Many thanks to the folks at Northernridge Baptist Church up in Denver for getting me going on the month of May on the bike (they rented a road bike for me for while I was with them). The altitude training spurred me on. So, for May, 2010:
Miles ridden: 612.89 (record in one month, at least since I got back into cycling in 2005—I can’t find my 93-98 ride files to compare).
Total ascent for the month: 27,846 ft. (8,488m, 5.27 miles) (record)
Longest week total: 175 miles (record)
My riding year ends June 13th, and I am currently on track (if I put out a massive effort the last week, which will be tough, since we have predictions of highs around 110 next weekend) to get as far as 5,400 miles for the 09/10 year. And yes, 5,400 miles would be a record since 2005 as well (did 5,280 last year).
All of this has been great for my physical conditioning, as I am now the lightest I have been since 1999 (I started weight lifting in 1998, and it took me quite a while to pack on muscle after five years of riding without doing proper protein supplementation). It is putting a real strain on my MacBook however, as I have to have it running constantly recording more books to listen to while riding. Last week, for example, I began a review of all of my Christopher Hitchens debates, mixing those up with sections of The Qur’an in its Historical Context edited by Grabiel Said Reynolds, Arabic vocabulary and Qur’anic texts, and some B.B. Warfield essays in systematic theology.
As the summer temperatures set in here in Phoenix, my ride distances will have to come down, as even leaving at 4am in the morning still puts you into warm temperatures. For at least the next month, hopefully, it will be dry, and the lows should drop into the seventies, but once the monsoon season hits here, the lows will be in the mid to upper 80s, sometimes spiking into the lower 90s (our record high low is 96), so there simply is no “cool” time to ride until late September. May is normally perfect riding weather, so I am thankful for the health to have taken advantage of it.
