Mark's Bike Tock: January 2018

It has been a very good year for my cycling passion. I have some nice personal records and even better, memories of several adventures. I rode on three Hall of Fame Trails including an end to end ride of the Mickelson Trail in South Dakota. While in SD I visited Mount Rushmore and the even more impressive Crazy Horse Memorial. I also saw a mammoth dig, Wind Cave, the city of Deadwood and did a spectacular hike up Black Elk Peak. I even did a ride in the Badlands National Park where I saw big horn sheep from about 20 yards away from the seat of my bike! I also saw prong horn, prairie dogs and buffalo.

I made a stop in Wisconsin to ride another Hall of Fame trail, the Elroy – Sparta Trail. This trail is the oldest rail-trail in the country. I did the entire trail from Sparta to Elroy including 3 tunnels then had lunch in Elroy. After lunch, I turned around and headed back to Sparta. The town of Sparta was a neat little town that embraced cycling in so many ways down to the bike logos on all the street signs. I also rode on a couple of other trails near Sparta.

A third Hall of Fame trail I rode was the Katy Trail in Missouri. I only had a chance to ride a small portion of this trail. The ride was very memorable since it was during the solar eclipse. Not only that, but the trail was in the path of totality. I viewed my first total eclipse of the Sun!...from my bike!!!!

In October, I rode in my first bike race. It was a time trail around Harveys Lake. I made it around in 27:35. My average speed was around 17 mph over 8 miles. I was happy with that result considering I am an old, fat guy.

I also had several personal records this year. Just a few short days ago I experienced my coldest ride ever at 10 degrees. My previous coldest was 15 degrees a few years ago. I also had my longest single day ride at 113 miles. My total mileage for the year was another record for me at 4459 miles. As if that was not enough, I treated myself to a new ride, a Giant Fast Road CoMax carbon flat bar road bike mounted with 35 mm tires for trails.