Okay, the time is near.  I have plotted out a biking route from my house in Washington to my sons house in Glen Ellyn, Il.  It is about 140 miles and will be over 2 days. Day one takes me from home north to Ottawa Il.  Route 89 to Magnolia about 32 miles.  I will follow back roads to Rt. 18 into Streator which is another 20 miles.  From there it will be Rt. 23 into Ottawa which connects with Rt 71.  This 20 mile stretch which will end my first days journey.   Now the real decision.  Do I ride home in the SAG or stay the night at a hotel and set out the next morning?  At this time I have not decided but with the Covid still very prevalent, the safest option would be to come back the next day to finish the ride.  Day two starts on route 71 but I need to take a diversion before I hit route 47.  There is a significant construction zone that I do not feel comfortable riding through and I have found a path that can circumvent that obstruction.  Eventually I will return to 71 until I hit Wolfs Crossing Rd.  I follow that to Eola road north.  My next turn will be a right turn at Ferry road.   I continue until I hit Naperville road.  A right at S Blanchard will take me into Glen Ellyn where I will zig/zag to finally arrive at the my sons house.  Day two ride will be near 70 miles and that will determine if I have recovered and trained enough to do more distance riding.  Later. 

 

Knee update-It's about as good as it's going to get so my riding now is to built up endurance for distance rides.  After my 35-40 mile rides I feel pretty good.  Good enough, in fact, that I have determined I will ride from my house in Washington to my son's house in Glen Ellyn, close to 140 miles.  It will be a two day event of about 70 miles per day.  Ronni and I drove the route last week.  That was a good thing as I could record distances between towns and turns.  Also, checking road conditions favorable to biking and where construction sites that need detours was a huge reason for the road trip.  It begins in Washington to Magnolia along route 89 for 30 miles then turning east to Streator another 20. At that point I turn North for another 20 miles and end day one in Ottawa. The following day take route 71 to Yorkville.  Before driving the route I would have taken 71 to route 34 but a huge construction zone obstructs that path.  Therefore, I will divert around by using by going north on route 47 through Yorkville where I will then  connect with route 34.  Route 34 turns into Ogden Ave. which is a road with fairly heavy traffic.  That intersects with Naperville road which takes me to Wheaton.  From there it's city roads to Glen Ellyn.  I have not recorded distances for day 2 but will before I do the ride.  From that I will determine my physical ability to continue doing distances and ultimately the century to Champaign.  Now I need to get two days of favorable weather for the plan to go into effect. That's the plan so stay tuned for updates.

 

                                                      This is my choice route of the day

O

                                                Obviously not riding this

                                                       Not riding this.....gravel

                                                           three amigos

Biking conditioning getting better.  I currently have 1,500 miles since March.  Not as many as I normally ride but not bad.  I just finished a ride to Downs which is at the 45 mile distance. I wanted finish in LeRoy for 55 miles but I  only planned riding to Bloomington at 40 miles.  I felt so good and ahead of time so I extended another 5 miles.  I felt it would have been a great day to ride to Champaign, my first century since the new knee. but time did not permit this.  Last week, in celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary, the kids came home for the weekend.  I convinced Eric and his girlfriend Ester to ride to Eureka, do a small lunch, and ride back, a 20 mile round trip. A shout out to Russells cycling.  He not only let me borrow a bike for Eric, but when we discovered Ronni's bike was to big for Ester, Joe loaned another bike that fit her dimensions.   Being somewhat concerned about Ester's ability to bike that 20 mile distance, I quickly discovered my concern was not warranted.  I knew she did a little biking and has trained for marathons but was delighted when she took the lead and ran a consistent 12-13 mph.   A great time was had by all and Joe Russell came through like a champ.  Pun intended.  On another note, my usual route leaving the city was just covered with chip seal meaning loose gravel.  I do not ride on those roads so I had to deviate from my normal route.  And, one of my roads is totally unusable as per the attached pic.  Still looking forward to my first century so stay tuned

 Another great week for biking.  30-35 miles four days with a 20 miler to Eureka lake on Sunday.  Looking forward to the day when conditions are favorable for me to ride my first century since the knee replacement.  Bike camera needs work as the movie function is not working.  It will still take photos but movie not working.  Looks like I will need to purchase a new one.  Also, the biking scene is picking up.  I encountered 10 bikers on Thursday's ride.  Folks are trying to find a way to get out during the current pandemic.  Since my return and the biking season began I have accrued over 1,300 miles.  I still do not clip my right foot but it seems to be working out.   Hopefully in early September I can ride a century but we will see.  Stay tuned

And this is another reason I bike.  Riding along Dee-Mack road approaching business 24 I was passed by a pick-up truck towing another older truck.  Dee-Mack is a state road but without much traffic.  Route 24 is a major east-west road between Washington and Eureka and well traveled with many speeding autos.   As I crossed 24 I looked to my right and there were the same two trucks on the side of the road . The towed truck had broken loose from its two straps and the driver was working to reattach it.  However there is no shoulder so the two were three-fourths into the driving lane.  After assessing the situation I decided to lend a hand to the driver.  He had no flashing lights on either vehicle so oncoming traffic would not be able to realize there was a problem.  So, after asking if I could assist reattaching the tow and determing he didn't need assistance I positioned my bike behind the trucks to warn on coming traffic of the situation.  I turned my rear light onto the bright mode and acted like a traffic cop motioning cars to slow down and stopping them when there were cars in the opposite lane.  The good news is there were no further mishaps and when the driver finally was able to drive off I was glad I was there to help. It could have been disastrous. You just never know.  Another good deed done by a biker.  Later.

Biking update.  Almost back to normal distances.  My daily ride is 30-35 miles.  I ride 6 days a week and have just passed 1000 miles since the weather accommodated outside biking.  Off days are on the trainer in the  basement.  My objective there is to squeeze the knee as much as possible.  I still use a stationary bike pedal with a strap across the shoe on the repaired knee side.  That stabilizes the foot and allows me to ride with a reasonable degree of comfort.  While my speed is not where it was before the TKR I am slowing increasing it.  Currently I am only about two miles per hour slower and today I got within one mile.  It was great day with low 80's and virtually no wind.  On the trash front, Bud products are still the number one discarded can along the side of the road with Miller lite a close second.  Coke still rules in the soft drink discarded can category with Mountain Dew a close second.  Gee, I wonder who still tosses those items out the car/truck window in this era of environmental consciousness.  But it is what it is.  I am getting more confident that soon I will accomplish a century but I still don't want to rush it.  More later

Biking is getting somewhat back to normal.  I am doing 30-35 miles three to four time a week.  The knee is in pretty good shape but without the flexion needed to use clips.  Instead, I use a pedal on the right foot with a strap.  It allows me to rotate without the foot sliding off the pedal and the left foot remains clipped.  For the first time this week convinced me I would be able to do a century sometime this fall.  While I'm getting my distance back, my speed in another question.  I have lost about 2-3 mph.  However, there are times my speed is where I want it to be but not for the entire ride.  I suspect that will come with  more training.  I should also mention that most motorists are very respectful but as usual there are always some idiots out there.  During my last ride I was being passed by a panel truck.  As it passed it slowed down, passed my by about a foot, and layed on the horn.  Again, idiot.  The heat has returned so I need to be extra careful remembering I'm still not conditioned like before.  But it will come and look forward to my first century in a year.