Lance heading to the the podium to kick off the Ride the Drive event on Sunday.

For those who don’t know what the “Ride the Drive” event is… A few times a year, the city closes down some of the busiest downtown roads to allow people to ride their bikes (One of the closed roads is John Nolan Drive, hence the “Drive” that is “Ridden.”) The event showcases Madison as a bike-friendly city, and this event proves it!

I went down with the family in the hopes of maybe seeing the 7-times Tour de France winner, and sure enough, I got to within a road-length of seeing him. So even though I did not get an autograph, or even a “hey, how are you?” I did get to see a ton of people on everything from unicycles to top-end racing kits all riding together. Very Cool stuff indeed!

Fortunately for me, the Ride the Drive was not the only cycling event of the weekend. Saturday morning was to be a usual morning ride. Out the door at 5:30am to get 55-65 miles in. With two other buddies, we headed out and took on the Wisconsin Ironman loop.

Any Ironman who has done this loop knows that it has a bit of everything to it. From flats (which are few and far between) to hills that come one after another, the 42 mile loop has it all.

The loop has been a struggle for me this year. Some days, I have felt really strong at the start, only to see me drop off the pace as we neared the final climbs. Saturday was different. Instead of hitting a wall, I was able to stay strong for the entire loop (plus an additional ride to get the full day’s total to just over 63 miles.) It was one of those days when everything just felt right. Instead of the 39×28 to get up the hills, I was able to use the 39×26… and it felt good.

So, overall it was a great weekend… Looking forward to this week’s training and another good ride next weekend.

Over the river.. (not really) and through the woods (in the dark) and we finally got to our destination. The road has recently been repaved, so it is a riding dream. 6 min pulls, followed by a 1 min break (5 times) was the agenda. With four guys, there was one person who would be blessed with the opportunity to do a double. Fortunately for me and my legs, our Ironman stepped up and did a double at the end of the ride.

My ride, including 6 minutes of purgatory, looked like this on the PowerTap…

1hr, 59 min total riding
35.57 miles
1305 Kjs burned
241 watts normalized power

Unfortunately, a flat tire stopped the group for about 5 minutes… but that break was enough to get us up the final hill and home.

Love this ride and this route. Tomorrow is a yoga day, and then a short ride on Friday before a good long ride on Sat… Until then!

Here is the issue… Trainers STINK! I started cycling because I love getting out on the open road, the sights, the smells, the wind… the whole experience! Living in Wisconsin my entire life, I know that at some time the weather changes, and the time to move indoors arrives. But come one… Sitting in a basement with a fan and a TV is not what I would call fun. Fortunately, I have enough stuff on both the iPod and the TV to keep me occupied. However, it is not going to stop me from complaining!

OK. I am done for now. Looks like the Tour Down Under is just around the corner, and it is going to be fun to see the riders and new teams on the tarmac. That is all for now!

Keep riding!