30 more miles - Ben

My Route (click to enlarge)

I rode solo today. Ryan had a bowling induced butt injury and Nate's bike is in the shop. I decided to take the opportunity to try a new route. I started on the Art Gallery/Umstead route and then jumped over to the greeway. It was very hilly until I got on the greenway but I felt pretty good for the majority of the ride. The heat was intense... training is going to be a challenge in the summer months.

Distance: 29.32 miles
Average Speed: 14.2 mph
Max Speed: 31.5 mph
Time Moving: 2:03:52

30 miles (and then some)

Our Route (click to enlarge)

We've been riding too much for me to post every ride.. so here's a recap of some recent Skidmark's training sessions.

Sunday 5/24 – Ben and Ryan go 30 miles (see map)
Distance: 30.22 miles
Average Speed: 13.1 mph
Max Speed: 30.4 mph
Time Moving: 2:18:30

Thursday 5/21 – Ben, Ryan and Nate go to Umstead and back
Distance: 16.3 miles
Average Speed: 13.1 mph
Max Speed: 29.1 mph
Time Moving: 1:17:32

Saturday 5/16 – Ben and Tito do the Greenway
Distance: 17.55 miles
Average Speed: 13.5 mph
Max Speed: 31.8 mph
Time Moving: 1:17:40

20 Mile Mark!

Went for a great ride Sunday, once again on the Greenway. Ben & I met up with Kostya at Crabtree and ran the length of the Greenway in a little over an hour and a half. The weather conditions were even better than Thursday...including a nice lack of reptiles. Beginning at Crabtree, we rode west until the Greenway ended, then headed back past our starting point and rode to the other end about 4 miles farther.

The level terrain of the Greenway lends itself to a more even ride and is a better representation of what the eventual race course will have in store. Ben's endurance and speed seem to both be improving, while I still seem to have some issues with early rides as opposed to our evening sessions. I'm going to attempt to change this with an improved breakfast regimen. All in all it was an GREAT ride and Team Skidmarks achieved the 20 MILE MARK! Hells yeah!

Stats:
Time Moving: 1:38:03
Distance: 23.09
Average Speed: 14.1 mph
Max Speed: 25.6 mph

Bikes and Bugs - Ben

Our Route (click to enlarge)

Another after work training session. This time, Ryan and I met up with Matt at Crabtree Valley Mall for a ride on the greenway. The greenway is much flatter and has less stops than the art gallery/Meredith College greeway trail. So we were able to ride for a longer time without stopping.

The weather was perfect for a long ride.. but the bugs were out of control. I got my daily dose of protein in the first mile... Plus we saw a huge snake at the end of our ride.. it was interesting.

Mad props to Ryan for stepping up from the last time we were on this trail. We went farther and unlike the last time, Ryan wasn't bitching the whole ride.. (jk buddy). I think after the ride through the art gallery and to Umpstead, this ride was easy... 75 miles in one day is looking more and more realistic every day.

Stats:
Time Moving: 1:23:56
Distance: 18.84
Average Speed: 13.4
Max Speed: 24.6

Umstead and back - Ben

Our Route (click to enlarge)

Ryan and I got together with Tito, a member of our rival team, "Team Merkins," for a ride on Saturday. We decided to do the same ride we did on Thursday with the whole team but to continue the ride all the way to Umstead Park. Here are our stats:

Distance: 15.4 miles
Average Speed: 12.9 mph
Max Speed: 31.1 mph
Time pedaling: 1:11:11 (wow! all 1's... that must be good luck.)

Go Team! - Part Duex

Our Route (click to enlarge)

The entire team got together for a ride today. We went about 9 miles and finished with a ride up and down the parking deck at work. It was a great ending to our first training session. I think we pushed a certain team member to his limit.. I'm not pointing fingers, but someone might need to play a little catch up. Jk, I'm sure after a few more rides, we'll all be about level.

Go Team! - Ben

Our Route (click to enlarge)

The Skidmarks had their first "team" training day on Sunday. I met Ryan and his friend Kostya at the Crabtree Valley Mall entrance to the greenway. This was Ryan's first time on a bike in a long time so he wasn't sure how it was going to go. Overall I think we had a great ride. We ended up going about 13 miles in just over an hour.

Here are our stats:
Time pedaling: 1:01:23
Distance: 12.9 miles
Average Speed: 13.7 mph
Max Speed: 105.2 (sometimes the computer gets confused about max speed.. this prob threw off the avg speed too.)