Carti Training Rides

The training rides are almost as famous as the actual Tour de Rock that it prepares you for.

This year I think they started a little later and didn't have as many as they did last year. I only managed to make 3 of them since I had other things on my calendar to do.

We always start on the NLR side of the river and head east with a different route every week. The mileage increases a little each time we ride. Most of the time I met up with Christy and Bob, but this year Bob has been in the front of the pack with some goals of his own. I usually get to ride with Christy and we catch up on things.

Saturday, May 26 was the last training ride for this year. The Tour de Rock happens in 2 weeks and will hopefully be my second century ride of 2012! Since Christy wasn't going to do the long route on this day, I decided I'd do it and see how fast I could do it. I did my 65 miles in around 4 hours which is fantastic time for me! I struggled the last 10 miles due to knee pain which cut down on my average pace some. Not sure what was going on with my knee, but I hope it doesn't happen again.

I'm excited about TDR. When I did this ride last year, it was my very first century ride! I'm sure we'll have to deal with wind, but I hope the weather is sunny! I just hope there's no rain on that day. The route has been changed up a little, and this year you have to be at certain destinations by certain times in order to be allowed to do the century. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I don't have any kind of bike or health issues that interfere with my plans!

Tour de Hoot

Saturday, May 19, I traveled to McGehee for this ride. This was my first "Hoot" ride and was going to be my first century ride of the year. The course if flat, except for the bridge crossing the river, and takes you to the Arkansas Post where you turn around and head back.

It was a beautiful warm, and sunny day with great rest stops! At Arkansas City, they had fresh melons by an old courthouse along with wonderful homemade cookies!

I rode with Brad and Susan from our ABC group, rode on "Joe and Ruth's Train" for a little while, and met Paul from Fort Smith who decided to do the century with us.

This was delta land, which I'm very accustomed to cycling on, it seemed like home with all the crops growing and the back roads. We encountered some fierce headwinds after the Arkansas Post while heading back in. Brad had some asthma issues and couldn't finish the last 20 miles, but Paul and I managed to make it! My first century of the year and his first ever century are now history!

This was a fun ride and I look forward to doing it again next year. It raises money for the local Boys and Girls Club which is a great cause. So many small, rural towns don't have organizations like this for our youth so I was glad to be a part of it and help in a small way.

ABC Baseball Ride

This is probably one of my favorite group rides! We met at Cooks Landing and rode our bikes downtown heading to Dickey Stephens Park for an Arkansas Travelers game.

I invited Jennifer and Tracy from work to go with me to give them a little taste of what I do when I go to different places and ride with other people. On May 14, we did just that!

We arrived at the stadium and had dinner there at one of the restaurants on site and I had my first ever fish taco. The service could have been better but the food was pretty good!

The ride back in the dark is always a little freaky since I feel like I never have enough light! We made it back safely and I think Jennifer and Tracy had a great time! Hopefully I can talk them into more rides!

Friday, May 18 was "Bike to Work" day and the three of us traveled to work on our bikes. We met up, did the ride, had our picture taken by the local newspaper and went to work. (Although we would have much rather taken the day off and just rode around!) After work, we got on our bikes and made our way back.

I bike to work often (40 + mile round trip) and enjoy doing it. I would love to see more people get out and do the same thing...they just don't know what they're missing :)

65 Roses Tour

The day, Saturday April 21. The place, Searcy Arkansas. The weather, COLD, WINDY and CLOUDY!! You expect it to be a little cool in April, but I was dressed for cold weather riding. I had on layers and my leg and arm warmers. Brrrrr!

The ride had great support, good rest stops and lots of friendly folks. This was my first climb up Joy Mountain and I have the t-shirt to prove it! This ride was very hilly! I wasn't really expecting that. You had the hills to contend with as well as heavy traffic on most of the highways involved. And when I say traffic, not only am I talking about regular vehicles, but heavy equipment as well since this area has been drilling for natural gas.

The last several miles, we had some strong head winds and I ended up riding with Jim, Susan and Janice. That really helped since I was starting to get tired from all the hills. There were some great chicken salad wraps after the ride and I visited with Ruth and Joe before going home.

I didn't do this ride last year because it was raining. This year the date was moved up and seemed to work out better. Hopefully next year when this ride comes around we'll have nice sunny and warm conditions. Overall, a great ride for a great cause!