Record-Setting Day (update)

Yes, I convinced my amazing wife (who is stronger than she knows) to go back out and ride 5 more miles for a total of 115 miles—now we have the same record. I’m so proud of her, but of course I tried to cajole, trick, and convince her to ride just five more miles. Why you ask? Isn’t 115 far enough? What are you, a crazy man on a mountain bike? Well, yes, actually, I am; and I had another completely reasonable (well, I think it’s reasonable) reason for wanting 120 miles: I thought of a fantastic Facebook status—you’re going to love it. Here it is: 1 day. 2 people. 0 brains. 120 miles. Clever, right? Well, my fantastic wife didn’t think that was a good enough reason to ride five more miles…Perhaps she was right, but I was ready to ride five more miles. (Truth be told, I was ready to ride 35 more miles to set our record at 150 miles; but that’s a secret between you and me.)

Today Was a Good Day!

Today was a banner day in the Reed household; my beautiful wife and I set out at 5:55 a.m. on an epic bike ride…110.16 miles later, we returned home. Yes, I finally convinced my wife to do a century ride. We started out strong, met up with friends, stopped in at Homestead National Monument and talked with friends there, ate lunch, rode out into the heat and hills, laughed, cried, and finally made it home. My attractive wife got a little sunburnt, but otherwise we’re no worse for the wear. In fact, I’m trying to convince her to take an evening ride to break my personal record of 111 miles. Yes, I truly do want to know someone’s as crazy as me.

Today was a good day on my mountain bike. Just a few more miles and then to bed. I think I have her convinced, maybe…

Alaska to Peru

I always keep track of my mileage and yesterday I passed the 7,000-mile mark for 2013. So to keep things interesting, and to give you a visual, here’s something to think about: That’s like riding from Hyder, Alaska, to Lima, Peru, on a mountain bike since January 1st. Yep, my lovely wife was right I am a crazy man on a mountain bike.

Today’s total: 89 miles. (I’m headed for Chile.)

A Little Rest

So, my body finally protested all the excessive exercise and demanded that I take a break. Yesterday I putted around town and rode 75 miles. (Yes, that’s a rest day compared to the riding I’ve been doing.) I know it’s crazy, but that’s why I (well, actually, my beautiful wife) started this blog, because I’m clearly a crazy man on a mountain bike! I’ll admit it, I was frustrated, but it’s important to listen to your body and give it rest when necessary. Today, I only rode 67 miles, but I felt much better. Lesson for the week: Rest is vital.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll get serious about riding again….

Quick Update

Chuck triumphed once again; he found a way to get my beautiful wife to take an evening bike ride, and 15 miles later she broke her personal record. (It’s now 90 miles in a day.) I tried to convince her to ride just 10 more miles, but she stood firm. Still, 90 miles is awesome! (But 100 is better.)
 
I’m still extremely proud of her; and for the record, she enjoyed the 15 mile evening ride. She even admitted it. That’s a win! No more biking today; I’m off to bed, but tomorrow is a new day to ride!

A Beautiful Sunday Morning Ride

This morning my delightful wife, Trena, my friend, Chuck, and I decided to go on an early Sunday morning bike ride. I confess that I knew it was going to be a long ride, but the other two never saw it coming—even though I thought I made myself abundantly clear.

 

Here’s how it went down: Saturday night, I sent our friend, Chuck, a message asking if he wanted to take an early morning ride before it got too hot outside; he said, “Yes.” Now Chuck thought we were just going to take a short ride (20-25 miles)….Boy, was he surprised! Thankfully, he jumped at the opportunity to ride more miles in one day than he had ever ridden. (His personal single-day record was 50 miles.) My adorable wife thought Chuck wouldn’t ride the whole MoPac Trail, so the ride would be a decent length (30-40 miles), but not too long….Boy, was she wrong! 75 miles later, we finally arrived home.

 

Yes, we all had a wonderful time. (But don’t tell my cute, little wife—she might not believe you.)

603-Mile Week and Then Some…

This week I rode 603 miles on my mountain bike—my biggest week on a bike by far. Why you ask? Actually, this is a question my loving wife asks often as I bombard her with stats about my biking, and my response is always the same, “Because I can.” To me this seems like a perfectly logical reason for riding 603 miles in a week, but my wonderful wife doesn’t seem to agree with me. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this subject.

 

Update 610

Right now I’m off riding my bike. (Remember my fantastic wife is ghost writing this blog). I tried to convince my thoughtful wife to take the 7-mile bike ride with me. Why you ask. Well, I tell her because I enjoy her company, because I want her to be healthy (as if 43 miles in a day isn’t sufficient), because I want her to rise in the Endomondo ranks (more on this later); but, if I’m truly honest with myself, it’s because I want someone to be just as crazy as I am. Yes, my talented wife rides her bike, but she just doesn’t seem to have the same “crazy” about biking as I do. (I can’t even tell you how much I wish she did.) Oh, you wanted to know why I went back out to ride 7 miles; well, here’s the story: the past 5 days I rode over 80+ miles each day, and I was loath to break that streak; after all, I was only 7 miles away. So I’m off again…

 

Another Update 612

I’m back, and I actually rode 9 miles instead of the intended 7. (I just couldn’t help myself.) So, my new one-week record is 612 miles.

Some Things You Should Know

My name is Randy Reed (well, actually, this is his wife, Trena, writing on his behalf). You may be wondering why I’m not writing this blog myself. It’s not because I’m incapable, or because I’m not a good writer; no, it’s because I simply don’t have the time.
 

Why don’t I have the time? Because I’m too busy riding my mountain bike of course. (You really should have seen that coming.)
 

I should probably explain this strange nickname/blog name “Crazy Man on a Mountain Bike” before we go any further. Here’s the story: I ride my bike everywhere for transportation and for fun (if truth be told, I ride it excessively) and it’s a mountain bike. I bet you never saw that story coming, but you really should have.
 

Now that we’ve been properly introduced, I’d like to tell you why I’m starting this blog. Here’s the story: I have a friend who reads my Facebook statuses regularly; statuses that read like this:
 

“I enjoyed a nice little 75-mile bike ride this morning.”

“With the heat index soaring well over 100 degrees, I set a new personal record on my mountain bike today—110 miles.”

“1 man. 1 mountain bike. 1 day. 111 miles.”

“I reached the 6,500-mile mark on my bike for 2013 this morning. (That’s like riding from San Diego to

Seattle to Chicago to Houston to Boston to Montreal since January 1st.)”

“1 man. 2 wheels. 3 days. 321 miles”.

“Before yesterday I had never ridden my bicycle 100+ miles more than two days in a row; now, after today, I’ve doubled that to four days in a row at 100+ miles.”

So my friend said to me, “Why don’t you start a biking blog?” To which I responded, “I really don’t have time.” Then she asked (in her sweet, innocent way), “Why don’t you have time?” To which my amazing wife responded, “Because he’s a crazy man on a mountain bike, and he can’t get off his bike long enough to write it.” We all laughed, but from that seed of an idea this blog started.

Now that I’ve introduced myself, given you a little insight into my nickname, and explained why I started this blog, I think I’ll stop and take a bike ride…