Todays the day for the big ride

The storms are breaking up along Lake Michigan so we may get a little wet but we are riding. This will be my first 105 mile ride from Zeeland, MI to Michigan City, IN. I have been planning this trip since July 2013 and I am so happy to see it happen. Starting at 7:45AM after I pick my friend Tony Maravolo up from Grand Rapids.

Week Before my ride To Michigan City

Had a couple great rides over the past week. Went riding with a neighbor last Thursday the 5th and had a flat about 8 miles into the ride (first one of the season). Dummy me had everything to change a flat except for C02 cartridges or an air pump. I ended up walking about 1.5 miles which is not the easiest in clip on shoes but my neighbor was nice enough to ride home and come get me. I am ready for this if it happens again. I did 23 miles on Sunday the 8th and 18.5 miles on Tuesday the 10th in a drizzle of rain. I got home about 10 minutes before it started pouring.  I had set a goal to hit 550 miles by the end of June but I have a feeling I am going to hit that with no problem. I am already at 376 miles and I am riding 105 miles next Friday on my trip to Michigan City.

Getting Ready

I have been lazy about following up on this blog so trying to play catch up. My bike has been complete since roughly the last week of April. I have already ridden over 325 miles since I got it back. Had to make a few modifications from the original equipment I purchased due to buying too large of a stem for my handlebars. FSA 130 was my original purchase and I now have a SLK 110. I also had to give up a sweet set of all carbon Planet X Rims with Gatorskin tires due to being track rims instead of road rims. I now have a new set of Velocity aluminum rims with Continental Grand Prix 4000s tires. Overall the bike has been an awesome learning experience buying all the parts myself. I did give up on building it myself due to the cost of the tools and the price I was quoted for having it assembled professionally was just to good to pass up. The bike was just to expensive for me to take a chance on. Below is a pic of my bike.

 I am stepping up how many miles I am riding each week so I am ready for the big ride on Friday, June 20th with my friend Tony Maravolo. We are biking from Zeeland, MI to Michigan City, IN which will be my first 100 mile bike ride. Tony has done this a few times before so he is a veteran. The most I have ever ridden in a day is 40 miles so this will be a new experience for me.

My weight loss goals have been mediocre so far. I was right around 205 lbs. when I first started this blog and to date I am at 198 lbs. so I have a ways to go.  What can I say I like to eat but I do have a few weeks to go before the big day.