A Strong Start To June

Riverside Park in West Bend, just before sunset today.

If May went out with a whimper, then June has arrived with a roar. In the first week of the new month, I amassed 219 miles and 13.5 hours of ride time. It was my heaviest block of training so far this year, and it included a variety of activities on the road and off.

Monday was a mixed-surface ride on my cyclocross bike, using the Eisenbahn State Trail, other local trails, city streets and country lanes. I liked it so much that I did it again today. Tuesday and Friday were briskly-paced road rides. Wednesday was a mountain biking exploration at Alpine Valley. Thursday was the weekly road ride from the high school, but mine was unusually slow as I escorted a dropped rider instead of going with the lead group. On Saturday afternoon I completed my third metric century of 2015. In April, Cheesehead Roubaix was the first one and in May my out-and-back ride on the Wild Goose State Trail was the second.

This was a big weekend for cycling in Wisconsin: the Trek 100 in Waterloo on Saturday, the Diablo Criterium in Menasha today, the WEMS race at Alpine Valley on both days for the 12- and 18-hour racers … I previewed the WEMS course on Wednesday but decided not to compete. On a course that rewarded skinny climbers and fast descenders, I would have had a poor result. The century route of Oostburg Christian School’s Unity Ride, which cut across the northeastern corner of Washington County late on Saturday morning, would have been more to my liking.

In the week ahead I need to get back to New Fane for the first time since May 19. That will be my top priority. It may prove true that my next mountain bike race doesn’t happen until August, but I need to keep practicing at least once a week. It’s too easy for me to fall into the trap of long-steady-distance road rides, day after day.