Weekly RunDown: May 24 – 30 / Chasing Miles (Again) in the Great American Ride

When a Competitive Spirit Goes into Overdrive 

As I mentioned back in early April, our Dawn Patrol team joined the Great American Ride again this year. It’s a fantastic virtual event where teams compete to cross 3,703 miles across the USA from Washington state to Washington, DC. Once teams reach DC, the competition keeps going as we log additional miles on the return route back across the country.

Last year, our team was the 12th group to reach DC, but we went on to win the entire competition with the most overall miles. I ended up leading our team with 1,859 miles, finishing 3rd place overall and 2nd place female in the entire event as part of my quest to hit 6,000 cycling miles for the year.

Heading into this year, I explicitly declared that my goals for 2026 were different. I wanted to put a heavier emphasis on walking, had no specific distance goals for cycling, and swore I wouldn’t go into overdrive logging miles for the challenge.

Well, plans change!

On May 4th, we became the 6th team to cross the USA, which is incredibly impressive considering we are an 8-person team competing against groups of 10 and 12. As we started climbing the leaderboard and closing in on 1st place for total miles, my competitive spirit officially took over. Suddenly, I found myself jumping back on the bike!

With the competition ending on June 5th, my new plan is to log as many miles as I possibly can between now and then and have set a goal for 50 miles per day. Yes, I’m talking about riding those exact “junk miles” I swore off when the event began!

You can read all about last year’s victory in my 2025 Great American Ride Recap.

Overview of the Week

Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…

Sunday

Cycling: 30 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 15.5 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 8:28 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66° in the basement, 54° and cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra

Stretching: Peloton 5-Minute Post-Ride Stretch with Ben Alldis

Unfortunately, the rainy forecast precluded the traditional holiday weekend outdoor bike ride with my friend Betsy. Desperate to get my legs moving anyway, I hopped on the bike for an indoor spin session instead.

With that out of the way, I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon cooking using my mom’s classic recipes for homemade potato salad, baked beans, and strawberry shortcake. Whether I’m cooking comfort food for a casual summer barbecue or a massive holiday spread for Thanksgiving or Christmas, I absolutely love making larger portions so we can stretch the meals out over a couple of days with friends and family.

Later in the day, the entertaining officially began! We hosted Betsy and her husband who live just a few houses up the street—the same generous friends whose place in Naples, Florida, we’ve been lucky enough to visit the last couple of winters. Despite the rained-out ride, we had a fantastic time catching up, laughing, and enjoying great food together.

Monday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Core: Peloton 10-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell

Walking: 4.01 miles
• Average pace: 15:04 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 10:10 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66° in the basement, 69° and raining outside
• What I wore: shorts and sports bra

Cycling: 4.93 miles (Peloton 20-Minute Miami Ride with Camila Ramón)
• Bike: Peloton Bike+
• Average speed: 14.8 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 12:16 PM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 67° in the basement, 72° and drizzly outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra

Cycling: 1.24 miles (Peloton 5-Minute Cool Down Ride with Camila Ramón)
• Bike: Peloton Bike+
• Average speed: 14.8 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 12:38 PM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 67° in the basement, 72° and drizzly outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra

After a busy morning of workouts, it was time to fire up the grill again. Even though we had leftovers galore from the day before, we cooked up a fresh round of burgers and brats for a wonderful family gathering.

As we enjoyed the afternoon together, we took time to reflect on the true meaning of the holiday. We remembered why we celebrate Memorial Day and honored the ultimate sacrifice made by our service men and women for the many freedoms our country enjoys today.

Tuesday

Cycling: 34.6 miles / 16 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 16.3 MPH / 16.4 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 5:48 AM / 10:35 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 67° in the basement, 64° and foggy, turning over to rain outside / 68° in the basement, 72° and raining outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra

Core: Peloton 5-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell

Walking: 4.0 miles
• Average pace: 15:23 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 1:29 PM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 68° in the basement, 75° and raining outside
• What I wore: shorts and sports bra

With only two weeks left in the Great American Ride, I found myself suddenly motivated. Dawn Patrol is sitting in an impressive second place overall, but despite my earlier declarations that I didn’t really care about my individual stats, I realized I really didn’t want to finish in last place within our own team! With that competitive spark lit, I set out determined to log a longer ride, even if it had to be inside.

Unfortunately, my timing was off and a contractor showed up at the house before I could finish, forcing me to break my planned 50-mile ride into two separate segments. Later in the day, I wrapped things up with a walk on my treadmill—once again feeling incredibly grateful for indoor workout options on such a humid, rainy day!