Today has been a fun filled day with kayaking, lunch at Ramona’s Table, and a bike race in Ada.  Jennie and I loaded up the kayaks this morning and headed up to Reeds Lake for while.  We spent about an hour on the lake exploring the shores and taking pictures of the wildlife.  We saw a pack of swans, a couple great blue herons, turtles, and a few other birds I haven’t yet identified.  One of the unidentified birds would almost hover in the air before dive bombing straight down into the water to grab its lunch.  They moved a bit too fast to capture on camera though. 

Out on the lake

 
The prehistoric bird (Great Blue Heron), the lily pads, and the unidentified birds

After kayaking, we swung by Ramona’s Table for lunch.  The food there is absolutely delicious.  If we could, we would probably eat there every day.  The have at least 30 different sandwiches on their menu along with lots of different salads and sides.  My goal is to eventually try each sandwich at least once.  I’ve probably had 10 so far, so still a long way to go.

Jennie’s Chicken Ramona (the Usual) on the left and my Turkey Jack Rabbit on the right

Ada Criterium

After kayaking, I biked out to Ada to watch the Ada Criterium bike race.  This is actually the first criterium bike race I have watched.  I have seem plenty of road races back when my dad was doing races like the 24 Hour Challenge and ODRAM (One Day Ride Across Michigan), but never a circuit style race.  I didn’t even know the event was taking place until Thursday when I saw a banner for it while on my ride.  The race started at 10:00, but I didn’t head out until almost 3:00.  As I got to Ada, I saw the tail end of the kids race.  They were on their last lap and I didn’t have time to get the camera out fast enough.  They sure looked like they were having a good time though. 

The race I watched was the Class 3 riders.  Not quite amateurs, not quite pros.  I learned quite a bit about how the races work today and learned that you start as a Class 5 rider and move up based on experience and performance through the years.  Boy were these guys fast.  The course was a 3/4 mile semi-rectangle with a couple of serpentine turns.  I positioned myself on one of the serpentine turns at the start of the race.  These guys would whip through the turns without even hesitating.  Some were leaned so far over, it was amazing the bike stayed on the ground.

After watching for a bit, I made my way to the start/finish line.  It was cool to watch them go by there because every few laps they would have prime (prize for the lap winner).  On those laps, you would one or two people break away from the back and go balls out for the last 100 yards or so to win the lap.  

I ended up leaving before the race was over, I didn’t want to stand around for too long before having to bike back home.  My legs (and butt) were fairly sore from my hard rides this week.  My legs were really feeling tired on the hills on the way back home, but it is good way to HTFU.

Here are some of the pictures and video I took of the race.

And finally, one of me, post workout taken by my camera happy bride.

Today was Memorial Day (or Decoration Day if you want to be old school).  That means that Jennie and I got the day off of work.  After a completely relaxing day yesterday, we got a out a bit today to enjoy the weather.

I started the morning off with a bike ride through Cascade and Ada.  Just like my ride to Grand Haven, there was a pretty stiff wind – this time out of the East though.  Thankfully, this time I was going in a loop so I got to take advantage of the wind for half of the ride.  Despite the wind and hills, this turned out to be one of my best rides of the season.  I averaged 18.2mph over 27 miles (a 3:18 pace).

I started off by heading up to Reeds Lake and then swinging out to Cascade.  Then I headed up along the Thornapple River towards Ada.  I think this is actually the first time I have circled Cascade this way.  Usually, I head though Ada first and then end up in Cascade.  After going through Ada, I cruised up and down the hills on Fulton.  These are some of the toughest hills in Grand Rapids and also part of the Reeds Lake Triathlon, so they are good practice.

The Fulton hills start about 17 miles into the ride.

Shortly after the hills, I looked back and there was another rider behind me.  I am still unsure on what the proper etiquette is for passing and what not.  However, it really bugs me when some gets behind me and then doesn’t pass. I didn’t want to change up my pace because I was feeling pretty good and figured that if was able to catch up to me, he should be able to pass.  I did slow down a bit to take a glug of water and he still didn’t pass.  He eventually passed by me about 4 miles later and said “hi” as he went by.  I was expecting him to thank me for providing a draft for him…. grrrrr.  I finished the ride by circling Reeds Lake with another climb at the end.

After the bike ride and some lunch, Jennie and I loaded up the kayaks and took them up to Reeds Lake.  It was almost too windy to kayak and we got pretty wet because of all the waves.  The sailboats seemed to be enjoying the wind though.  It was a fairly short trip over to the turtle cove and then back, but fun nonetheless.

Finally, to cap off the day of exercise, I headed out for a 4 mile run with Jennie on the bike.  Despite the other activities of the day, I still managed 7:36 miles through East Grand Rapids.  Sunburst is less than 2 weeks away so my training schedule is pretty light for the next week.  I am hopefully going to supplement the lightened load with some extra swimming and biking.  That way, I give my legs a rest from the impact of running, but also keep up my cardio workout.