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Saturday, February 3, 2024

A Most Unusual Day

Today is my birthday and I officially turned the page into the Septuagenarian phase of life.  That's right, I turned 70 today.  

Months ago, I started getting a wild hair idea.  As I mentioned back in 2019, in my right sidebar's About Me box, it has included the term "roadie cyclist" for as long as I can recall.  Cycling used to be one of the main activities Mrs. Graybeard and I engaged in; our main exercise/outdoor hobby.  After I started the blog, we went into a phase of riding less often, less distance, and eventually stopped riding altogether.  I'm not sure when we stopped but I made a reference to riding in late 2010 and some other posts into late 2011 make me think we were riding then.  I started riding by myself again in 2018.  

Back around late August, early September, I started getting a wild hair to do one of those things we did in the '90s and '00s.  For our birthdays, we'd ride our age.  While I was riding three days a week in the range of 13 to 14 miles/ride, I got the wild hair to ride 70 miles today. Because we had ridden the local (-ish) club's century ride every year for a decade (100 miles, not km), I had a pretty good idea of how to add miles, and the experience that told me that if you can ride your one day ride's mileage in a week, you'll probably be able to finish your goal ride.  Starting in September, I set a goal to increase my weekly mileage by 3% every week which would get me to 70/week by the first of the year. 

My bike - a 2005 Airborne titanium bike.  There's a bit of a story behind it, at that link up at the top.

Things were going along pretty smoothly until the start of the cool months, when we started getting weeks of really unpleasant weather to ride in, alternating with better weather.  Not "cold" - we've been nowhere near any extreme cold - just either rainy, very windy, or both.  My mileage ridden in December was five miles less than October, and about 70 miles less than November. 

There's a ton of small stories in here, but I'll spare you.  The bottom line is today was the day, the weather was probably the best we've had since November, but I didn't make the 70.  On top of that, it was because of things I should have done automatically - without having to think or plan - and probably would have if it hadn't been nearly 20 years since the last time I did a long ride like this.  

I messed up my hydration and electrolyte balance.  The old rule of thumb about drinking was "drink before you're thirsty" and I didn't obey that.  On top of that, I had nothing like those sports drinks - you know, the ones that are horribly sugar-laden and they dump some table salt into them.  That's not fair.  They put in more than just table salt.  At around mile 62, as I was planning how to get the last 8 miles, I decided to stop for another drink at a gas station/convenience store and had to step off the bike.  I couldn't do it.  I got a horrible leg cramp as I went to pull my leg over the bike.  And then I couldn't pedal because of the cramp.  I eventually called Mrs. Graybeard to come drive me the last 2-1/2 miles home. (Yeah, getting the full eight miles I needed would have been a different route.) 

So that's how I spent my birthday.  As well as much of the last five months. 



20 comments:

  1. You didn't finish that but you did complete 70 rotations of the sun and that is something! Happy birthday!
    I'll bet you could do 71 miles next year....

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  2. Happy birthday, young feller! (Well, I’ve only got 2 years on you). Keep up the cycling as long as possible- it keeps things moving…

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  3. Goodness, man. Take a day or two to plan your approach and then nail that thing. One advantage of age is self-awareness.

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  4. Happy Birthday! And thanks for all the informative articles.
    Dave

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  5. Congratulations on reaching the big 70. Hope you have many more. Your piece of internet real estate has become a daily stop for me. Thanks! EdC

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  6. Happy birthday (yesterday)!! My wife and I also ride to stay flexible, but our age and balance problems have put us on a tandem side-by-side trike. Our weekly goal is 45 miles a week in 3 rides. The East Coast Rail Trail runs very near our home and keeps us out of traffic. You came very close to your goal, keep going and get it next week!

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  7. Happy belated birthday! At least you're doing something beyond mere daily survival! More good bicycling weather arriving, but keep it steady.

    Some of my crazies are still riding with some sort of snow chains on their cycles.

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  8. Happy 70! Phew - 70 miles? I'm younger, but last time I was on the bike, the knee said nope. My age in a week would be a real challenge.
    - jed

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  9. Happy Birthday! 62 miles is still a significant ride. Well done!

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  10. Happy Birthday - and many more to come.
    In another 10 days I'll be 13 years older than you - I have to say, those 13 years have been (almost, I think) the most exciting time of my life.

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  11. THAT LOOKS LIKE THE BOAT RAMP AT GAINESVILLE FLA

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    1. Nope. It's Lake Washington Park in Brevard County. Having never been to a Lake anywhere near Gainesville, I've got to assume it's just the similarity in palms and other foliage.

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  12. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  13. Happy Birthday and thanks for your wonder blog. As a bike rider I'd like to recommend a sports drink - It's made by a company called Skratch Labs and comes as a powder. I get the lemon + lime version from Amazon. The beauty of this stuff is that it has eliminated leg cramping after a long ride and it doesn't give me the intestinal distress I was getting from Sports Drinks. Plus it's a powder so on a long ride you can carry unmixed powder and mix up new batches as you need.
    CP

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  14. Happy belated B'day also! I used to ride, but haven't in years. Mainly because where I live and lived in rural areas have/had poor and dangerous roads. But keep it up. I met a runner who was still doing marathons in his 80s and you can go a bunch more.

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  15. Happy Birthday, SiG! Hope you enjoy many more.....

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  16. Happy (belated) Birthday, SiG - welcome to 70. I'll turn the trip meter to 71 in April, and all I can say is Old Age Is Overrated.

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  17. Happy belated birthday!

    You've got about ten months on me. You made it 61 miles further than I could have.

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  18. Well done! Happy Birthday!
    Excellent planning and a good reminder that no matter how well one prepares, things can go not as well as planned.
    Congratulations for having the very good sense of knowing to stop before you got hurt.

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