Total dsitance (April): 154.34 miles
Total distance (Cumulative): 401.79 miles
Total time (Cumulative): 35 hours, 50 minutes

April was rainy, April was busy, April do not much riding make. I only rode half the days in April, adding 154.34 miles and 12 hours, 29 minutes of ride time. Unfortunately, May looks like it is going to be another busy month. The above photo was taken by Eric, he took many of the photos on this site. He has a blog too, I stole this photo from his blog.

I finally ordered all of the parts to rebuild the M2. The parts should be in later this week, hopefully I’ll have time to assemble everything soon.

Update: I rode the 19.2 mile gravel/road route again, in the rain. Here are the results:

Date: 2006.04.29
Time: 2:00 pm
Conditions: 50° F, light rain
Mileage: 19.2
Time: 1:07
Average Speed: 17.1 MPH

Total distance (March): 247.45 miles
Total time (March): 22 hours, 29 minutes

I was able to ride eighteen days in March. The weather ranged from the low 20s to the mid 70s (°F), and from slightly windy to very windy. I did not keep track of how many days it rained, but I don’t think the trails were completely dry on any of my rides; I only had to deal with ice/snow on a few days in early March.

In other news: I rebuilt SID XC on my M2. Luckily, nothing seemed to be broken, bent, or otherwise in need of replacement. It holds pressure, the shock oil has yet to leak out and it does not clunk or rattle anymore.

Update: The SID started bleeding a few days after the rebuild. I think some of the seals need to be replaced…

Update 2: I attempted the 19.2 mile route again last Friday. I took off four minutes from the last attempt and increased my aveage speed by 1 MPH.

Date: 2006.04.07
Time: 3:00 pm
Conditions: 70° F
Mileage: 19.2
Time: 1:06
Average Speed: 17.5 MPH

So, today I rode my Gunnar from my house to a nearby trail junction, a 19.2 mile round trip. The route is approximately one mile on public roads and the rest on gravel trails. Five miles of the route is on fresh (very soft) gravel, while the remainder is on hard packed gravel. I was able to average 16.6 MPH, completing the route in 1:09.

I have set a goal of one hour for the route. I think is should be attainable in a relatively short period. I plan on riding this route at least once per week along with my other daily rides. I’ll post progress reports along with monthly mileage.

Date: 2006.03.08
Time: 4:00 pm
Conditions: 65°F, wet, windy
Mileage: 19.2
Time: 1:09
Average Speed: 16.6 MPH