i have spent hours outside working on the handling drills. Even a few 2-4 mile rides with the kid. Last night we got a good rain and I thought today would work great and keep the pollen down. I tossed the S40 in the back of my SUV and off the the Neuse River Trail.
Unless you are near Raleigh, you likely have not heard of the trail. It runs next to the Neuse River and is a ~33mi paved trail. There is one road crossing and one 1/4 mile stretch you are on a road leaving one of the parks. The rest is just a nice ride with a lot of tree cover.
I parked near the middle and turned south for 14 miles. There is only one hill of note in the section. On my ICE Sprint, I would drop to at least the middle ring (36T?) and if tired, to the small ring. I zipped right up setting a new PR. I hit the southern end in 51 minutes. Turn around and time to head to the Falls of Neuse.
The rest was uneventful. For awhile I was keeping an average pace of 16.9MPH. I eventually finished the 67 mile right with a 15MPH average. The 19 miles from the Falls to my car I went easy as the outside of my left knee was bothering me.
I still have a ways to go before I relax on the bike. I have one sore shoulder and a small blister on the pad by one pinkie finger. I suspect both will go away with more time. My weaving around wasn’t any worse that I saw some DFs doing on the trail.
Looking at my schedule and comfort on the bike, I am starting to really consider taking the ICE Sprint on the Raven Rock Ramble this year. I was hoping to have more miles outside already, but that just has not happened yet.
Unless you are near Raleigh, you likely have not heard of the trail. It runs next to the Neuse River and is a ~33mi paved trail. There is one road crossing and one 1/4 mile stretch you are on a road leaving one of the parks. The rest is just a nice ride with a lot of tree cover.
I parked near the middle and turned south for 14 miles. There is only one hill of note in the section. On my ICE Sprint, I would drop to at least the middle ring (36T?) and if tired, to the small ring. I zipped right up setting a new PR. I hit the southern end in 51 minutes. Turn around and time to head to the Falls of Neuse.
The rest was uneventful. For awhile I was keeping an average pace of 16.9MPH. I eventually finished the 67 mile right with a 15MPH average. The 19 miles from the Falls to my car I went easy as the outside of my left knee was bothering me.
I still have a ways to go before I relax on the bike. I have one sore shoulder and a small blister on the pad by one pinkie finger. I suspect both will go away with more time. My weaving around wasn’t any worse that I saw some DFs doing on the trail.
Looking at my schedule and comfort on the bike, I am starting to really consider taking the ICE Sprint on the Raven Rock Ramble this year. I was hoping to have more miles outside already, but that just has not happened yet.
