Lewis Morris Challenge and the Lewis Morris Recovery Ride:
The last couple of weeks have been more of the same. Wrapping up work, taking care of the family as both kids have been sick, and riding a bit but not as much as I would like. So with that I went into the Lewis Morris race underprepared as usual. It's usually one of my worst races as it's climby and an all horsepower course. I like things a bit more techy, but it's still fun to go fast. As the siren goes off we start up the first hill and I'm DYING! I was pedaling hard but I was ready to crawl up on a ball and die. I kept on it hoping that things would get better and it did a few minutes later but holy crap I need to throw in more intensity in riding and in warming up for these races. I'm always afraid to do too much before a race but I think I need this in order to be able to ride harder at the start. I was able to get myself going better as I got though lap 1 but I could tell how my lack of riding lately has hurt my ability to ride hard and dig deep. I lost the first two riders early on in the first lap and they were riding well so I thought I wouldn't see them again and I was right. I finished the first lap in 3rd and started lap 2 and just hoped to maintain my placing. I was hoping the other two guys in front would blow themselves up but that wasn't the case. I was hurting in lap 2 so I rode hard but tried not to completely blow up. I just kept thinking that 4th had to be somewhere close, so I kept the pedals going and got to the finish line as quickly as I could. I finished in 3rd. It was good to be out there and pushing myself but I really just wanted to be riding my bike chill for a long time in the woods.
So
@Santa said prior to Lewis Morris that he wanted to do a long road ride Monday since he was going away with the family for a vacation for the rest of the week. We met early and hit the road on a beautiful day and headed from Succasunna to PA. We aimed for a mildy hilly day and to ride along the Delaware for a bit before crossing back into NJ. I drew up a route that went through hackettstown to Belvidere and crossing into PA there. We rode down the PA side of the Delaware and made a refuel stop in Easton. From there we kept riding down the PA side to Riegelsville and crossed back into NJ. From there we headed back to Califon for our last stop before making it back to the cars. We both felt good until the latter part of the ride which was to be expected. But we kept the legs moving and the wheels spinning. We both finished tired but happy to have put down a great loop out there. 100 miles done in some beautiful weather for once.