Bicycling Goals - To Infinity, and Beyond!

So after every bike ride, Husband and I decide what our next goal will be.  Where do we want to go next?

We're in it for the distance, and speed is coming along with it - I still feel slow, until we start passing people.  People in full on bicycling gear and speed bikes fancier than ours, people on cross country bikes, and the typical slow family bicyclists.

Yes, we do get passed by the occasional hard core biker - and that's okay - it keeps us reaching further.

I'm slower than Husband, and some days I think he holds back, other days he waits ahead after a good sprint.  He wants to beat his Strava goals.

The vortex of Strava.  It's a nice little App we put on our phones which tracks our rides - kms, calories, average speed, where we went, and personal records for sections we ride.

Our goal is to get this loop bigger and bigger each time.

We do want to begin biking to other towns, stay overnight, then bike back home - explore new paths and regions!

This is a bit scary, as Husband doesn't like to not know where we are.  Maybe this will help take away a bit of that anxiety and worry.

I, on the other hand, drove past Chicago 3 years ago, certainly having no idea where I was going.  That's the beauty of a GPS - generally they won't lead you into the middle of an Isle beside the Atlantic Ocean telling you that the banana ice cream shop is to your right (happened in Delaware).

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Last weekend, our goals of reaching Parliament Hill on Saturday & the Aylmer Marina on Sunday were kyboshed by bike issues, forcing us to turn around at the 20km mark each day.

All we wanted to do was to exceed the 45km "longest ride ever" from the previous weekend.

I was kind of creeped out early on when we reached Andrew Haydon Park.  Some guy had stopped behind Husband at the lights, and I just waited in line vs going up beside Husband.  I am still getting used to proper biking etiquette.  Husband went off, and I was a bit slower...then the guy started drafting Husband REALLY close.  Husband just kept going faster & faster - I couldn't keep up (keep in mind, I'm about a foot shorter than him).  Creepy guy kept drafting Husband and I had no idea if he knew it wasn't me behind him.  Eventually Husband stopped to wait for me at a Stop Sign, and the guy veered off to the left.

You can draft someone (a stranger), usually in a bike pack situation, IF you ask permission.  It was really creepy that he didn't ask Husband first.  So don't do what this guy did - it's just creepy.

I blame it on the fact that Husband wore just his biking shorts vs biking shorts with shorts over top.  His butt looked pretty amazing.

So. We biked past Island Park, behind Parliament Hill, and up that damn hill.  They put SPEED BUMPS in the middle of the path right when we were able to get a bit of momentum.  Stupid safety and speed measures!  Do people not realize how much energy it takes to get up that hill??

So much energy, that we deserved Street Meat.  We found a vendor quickly - so surprising, as Ottawa in the past has been horrible for Street Eats - they're apparently improving this.

Nom Nom Nom.

In front of the Chateau Laurier

We decided to go alongside the Canal.  It was nice to see a few eateries alongside our journey - good pit stops for next time.

We were aiming for the path along the Canal past Dow's Lake, but the path kind of stopped, and we were forced onto the scary road.  At least there was a bike lane.  I'm ok as long as there's a bike lane, but even that doesn't guarantee a car isn't going to smash into us. I'm so thankful for the Trans Canada Pathway system so we can have a safer bike ride!

We went on this fancy new road (aka newly paved) in the Experimental Farm, went through a random mountain biking easy trail in the forest, and ended up on Husband's normal path he takes from work.

He found a neat area that we'd love a house in (houses built in the 60's - bungalows!! - right off the green belt) during his adventures home - he was so excited to show me his discovery :)

Then we eventually ended back up on the path we normally take alongside the Ottawa River home.

So our goal was 50km - we exceeded said goal by 12 kms.  We exceeded our previous Longest Ride Ever by 17km.

On our Mountain Bikes (previously used for road/path riding too), 17km WAS a long ride for us.  They are heavier, and even with smaller tires on...just don't have the same feeling as our Road Bikes.

I'm in love with mine - she's helped make biking fun and adventurous again!

I think next weekend we will investigate the Quebec side of the river more and see what excitement that unchartered territory holds.  Or bike to Ashton on a mission with a pit stop at the Ashton Station Pub where we will drink Diet Coke instead of Ashton's Amber Ale because we'd have 20km to bike back home afterwards...

Keep on challenging yourself - you'd be surprised at what you can achieve!