My annual 50 mile ride pushes me above 900

Current Seasonal Total: 964.8

On Saturday, July 10th, I rode my annual half-century (i.e. 50 mile) ride. This year, I designed an all-new route that included one loop of the Busse Woods Bicycle Path, numerous roads in Roselle, Elk Grove Village, Schaumburg, and Hanover Park, and even a segment of the Great Western Trail and Elgin Spur of the Illinois Prairie Path. In total, my ride was 52.3 miles -- one mile for each year of my life. In order to reduce the negative effects of the mid-day sun, I started my ride at the ungodly hour of 6:05 a.m., bound for the Busse Woods Forest Preserve in Elk Grove Village. To save additional time, I even avoided a morning stop at Starbucks. Skies were clear and temperatures were seasonal, rising from the low 70s into the low 80s with light westerly winds. Even so, by ride's end I still felt overheated and dehydrated.

At about the half-way point, as I rode along a very long stretch of Weathersfield Way in Schaumburg, I chanced upon my brother-in-law in front of his home. He was nice enough to replenish my water bottle with some ice-cold water, which helped me immensely as I continued on the long backstretch of my route. The most uncomfortable part of the ride was the section along the Great Western Trail, where the summer sun shone upon me continuously. As I rode the final stretch of my route, I began to realize that my longer distance riding was limited more by my rising core temperature than by my aerobic threshold or muscle soreness. I concluded that, in the future, I should plan the longest routes of my season during the cooler months of September or October. I returned home a few minutes before 11 o'clock, having completed 52.3 miles, which was exactly the figure of my longest 2008 ride and slightly farther than its 2009 counterpart.

On the day before my big ride, I completed a warm-up ride that took me for the first time this season to the lakes and paths within Meacham Grove and the Lake Street Reserve. On the day after my big ride, I rode through the Roselle and Schaumburg Metra stations and along the network of roads that connect them.

In total, these three rides added 89 miles to my season total, which now stands at 964.8. With only 35 miles to go, I am poised to break the 1,000 mile mark in July, which will be more than a month earlier than I've ever reached that milestone before.