I mentioned last time that, with potentially three different extended distance rides coming up in the next couple of months, I’ve been working on building distance. I am also finding that I’m learning some new things along the way and, for better or for worse, relearning some others.

Part of the issue is that, while I’ve racked up a comparatively high number of miles (comparative to myself, that is), rides of any substantial distance have been few and far between. Last year, for example, my longest ride (and my longest ride ever thus far) was the virtual Tour of Scenic Ogle County (TOSOC), which came in at just over 62 miles. I was pretty pleased that I was able to complete that ride and all, but it wasn’t, and isn’t, typical of my outings. My average ride distance in 2020 was 16.33 miles, and thus far in 2021 it’s 14.96. As a general rule, I’m a short hauler.

In addition, looking back at that TOSOC ride, it was an isolated event in more ways than one. Cyclemeter points out to me that I took the two days before it off, as well as the three days following. I rested up before and after.

This is typical for my riding pattern. Looking through the calendar section of Cyclemeter it becomes clear that I routinely take breaks of 1-3 days between riding blocks. So I might ride for five or six days in a row on routes that are generally 20 or fewer miles in length, but then I’ll have a day to three of break in there. I was not unaware of this pattern, per se, but it does mean that my body is used to getting some time off after riding a few days in a row, with a cumulative mileage that typically ranges between 45 and 80 miles over those several miles. But the Hilly Hundred is two consecutive 50-mile days. My body was going to have to learn how to suck it up.

Towards that end I laid out a longer distance route the weekend before last weekend and pedaled out to just over 43 miles. I rode a shorter route the day before - just 12 miles - and then the 43-miler the following day, as a start. 43 miles is the single longest distance I had ridden thus far for 2021. Prior to that, my longest outing was a 37-miler on the Fourth of July.

This went fairly well, and with a recovery beer and possibly a couple of ibuprofen I came around fairly quickly. I gave myself a break the following day, and then got back into my regular short-ride pattern for the week.

This past weekend I laid out a new route for some variety, and headed out on Saturday for a 33 mile route that I planned to be the lead in for the 43-miler the following day. That route was planned out to take me through the tiny towns of Troy Grove and Triumph in Lasalle County.

This was… less successful than I’d hoped, in multiple ways. It took me longer to get on the road than I’d planned, and as a result I finally started riding right about two in the afternoon. This is, of course, just about the hottest part of the day. Now, the heat doesn’t usually bother me that much, but we’ve actually had a surprisingly cool summer thus far - I clearly wasn’t used to it. I actually chose to make a rare stop at The Grove - one of the two taverns in Troy Grove falling at just about the halfway point of the ride - to cool down and “hydrate”…

To be clear, it wasn’t awful, and I had brought along plenty of water for actual hydration. But I was far more fatigued, far earlier in the ride than I had expected. Looking back at the day, I also realized that I had skipped lunch in favor of just grabbing a granola bar in my efforts to get things done so I could get out on the road. I often don’t pay a ton of attention to nutrition ahead of rides - I don’t like to eat just before exercising, and for my short rides it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference anyway. But I suspect it did this day.

In an effort to learn a lesson from this (for once) the following morning I started much earlier, fried up some eggs and made some toast before heading out. I also sat down with Google maps and sorted out a potential adjustment to the 43-miler to add some distance - essentially identifying a right turn that would add another six or seven miles later in the ride if I felt up to it. I didn’t expect to feel up to it, given the experience of the day before, but I wanted to have the option.

So I headed out, not planning to set any speed records, but rather with a goal of working through the distance. But after about five miles into it I found I was feeling pretty good, and aided by an extended downhill segment and a tailwind, found myself hitting some pretty significant speed. I also seemed to somehow be far ahead of my best (and only prior) ride on this route. Cyclemeter had me at more than seven and a half minutes ahead:

This seemed pretty unlikely, even with the additional speed, and I figured it would probably correct itself as more of the ride went on. Still, I was buoyed by the possibility of it anyway and found myself pushing a little harder despite my original plan.

The route itself is a good one - it travels through the groves and lowland parts of the area, as well as through the towns of Lee Center and Amboy. Groves and lowlands make for a variety of scenery - which is to say, more than just corn and soybeans.

And the towns themselves are in many ways a time capsule. Whether it’s the remnants of business long since gone…

…Or the continued presence of an old brick street:

Many of the streets in our little towns in Illinois were originally paved in brick. In most cases they have since been covered in asphalt (and yes - covered, not replaced). I like that Amboy keeps a bit of it still present - seeing it is worth the bit of bone shaking you get riding on it on an unsuspended aluminum trike.

About 25 miles into the ride I started to experience something that I haven’t encountered on the trike before - my lower back started to hurt. One of the primary benefits of the trike is the comfort it provides, so I wasn’t sure what the issue was. On my prior time on this route I’d stopped for a snack at about the 23 mile point, which I’d skipped this time around. That had offered an opportunity to get up out of the seat and move around. Still, I’ve ridden much further without a stop in the past, so that seemed unlikely. But as I continued on it didn’t get better, so I elected to take a side trip to look at a little cemetary that had caught my eye the prior time through.

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A little time up and walking around did seem to help, enough so that, when I reached the point where I’d identified the opportunity to add distance I went ahead and took that right turn.

Another 15 miles or so into it, the pain in my back started to re-present itself. Time on the trike does allow one to contemplate things, so I started to reason through the why of it - what could be going on that was different? I’ve been riding a lot lately, getting quite a bit of seat time…

I pulled off to the side at a convenient spot and pushed against the back of the seat. With my hands. This elicited a bit of curiosity from the folks across the road:

(I cannot be the only person who chats with the cows when riding through the countryside. Right? Right?)

The mesh gave a bit more than I expected. I pulled the seat straps tighter at the back, took the opportunity to get a couple of extra sips of water in, and re-mounted. This seems to have done the trick - no more twinges.

As I rolled towards the end I was tired, but pleased to find I was still in pretty good shape overall. I could see, a couple of miles out, that the route was going to fall shy of 50 miles by a little over a mile. I mean, it’s not vital that you hit a round number, but it’s nice when you can. But between the fatigue the day before, and the back pain on this ride, I didn’t want to push it, so I simply finished out the ride.

When I sat down with Cyclemeter after the ride and reviewed it, I realized that I had ridden it differently than I had the first time around. Specifically, I’d cut off about two and a half miles from the beginning of the ride. That seven and a half minutes ahead of best that had buoyed my spirits early on? A lie. A lie to myself born of inattention to the previous route.

And - of course - if I’d done it right in the first place, I’d have hit the 50-mark. Maybe next time…