Tour De Cure:Training Ride 2 (last)

I needed to try something close to the 80-mile tour I signed up for that is two weeks away. So today I rode for ~70miles which took the whole day (8 hours). I hope I can do better on the real tour because that time does not allow me to finish the 80 miles in the time allowed. On a more positive note, notice how the loop can circumscribe the entire island of Manhattan...

And on a more random note, I stumbled onto a Major League Eating-sponsored Clam Eating competition... I think you can hear me mumbling WTF in the last five seconds of the clip :)


View Last Training Tour - May 25, 2009 in a larger map

Breaking Out of the House...

I'm still commuting to work twice a week and have been improving my time by ~10-15 mins each way. I can now get in to work in 55 mins flat, but there is still room for further improvement. I hope the heat and humidity doesn't slow me down too much.

Also, since the weather has finally started to warm up we've been going out on all sorts of trips with Elizabeth and her cousins David and Winnie: Botanical gardens, zoo, hiking, aquarium... She seems to be enjoying herself and so are we:



and...

Tour De Cure: Commute To Work

Last week I rode to work and back on Thursday. It is ~12.5 miles each way and it took me about 1.5 hours for one direction. About 30 more minutes than taking the train and I am sure I can improve on that speed, so perhaps a legitimate alternative. I will try to do it again as soon as the rain stops long enough for the roads to dry up. Sunday's wetness stopped me from taking my second scheduled practice tour (45-50 miles), but I intend to make it up by commuting some more this week. Here is a map of the commute route:


View Bike Commute in a larger map

I've also been going to the gym (stretching, yoga, rowing, leg presses/curls/extension). Toying with the idea of taking a spinning class, but would rather just commute every day. Towards that end, I've bought a rack and saddle for the bike and a better lock... I also got a cycling computer (speedometer/odometer) for my birthday (thank you Scott) to help keep me motivated to ride faster!