The Daily Parker

Politics, Weather, Photography, and the Dog

Long-ass bike ride cut a tiny bit short

As part of my training for the North Shore Century, I set out today to ride 100 km (62.1 mi). I went south, into the wind (so I would have a tail wind for the more-tired half of the ride), and for only the second time in my life rode to another state:

Then I continued all the way to the bottom of Chicago:

On the way back, only 3.5 km (2.1 mi) from home, a spoke broke. That doesn't sound nearly as bad as it is. When you lose a spoke, the wheel suddenly goes "out of true," meaning it's warped—badly. For a few moments I thought I'd simply run completely out of energy. No, the back wheel was rubbing up against the frame. So Anne had to come get me, and now the bike is at Turin.

Total trip: 96.7 km (60.1 mi) in 3:55:51. My pace was remarkably consistent, just under 25 km/h (15.5 mph), and seven of my 9 splits were withing 30 seconds of each other. This is what long-distance riders look for: consistent power, consistent speed, and consistent pedaling.

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