I got to bed very, very late last night mainly due to reading a book but I wanted to ride today. I wasn’t sure how far I would ride but I had to get out. I had only ridden on Wednesday this week so I knew I needed another bike ride. I slept in until 8:00 AM to get a little sleep and then rolled out. It was overcast outside but nice.

I rolled out of the driveway not know how I was going to ride. It took a couple of minutes to get across the big intersection coming out of my neighborhood but once I did I was able to settle in pretty good. After a few minutes of riding I checked my speed and I was cruising along at 14+ mph. It didn’t even feel like it. I checked my gearing and I was pushing a bigger gear than I normally do and I was doing so almost effortlessly. It felt good. I’ve noticed over the last couple of rides that I’ve been able to push bigger gears easier.

As I turned to the North the wind hit me in full-force. I didn’t even notice a wind before I left or while riding on my first leg of the ride. I tried to make myself as small as possible so that I could cut through the wind. I know, me and as small as possible probably don’t belong in the same sentence. It helped a little but the wind seemed to start to pick up. As I turned West it didn’t affect me as much but before long I turned North again and it began to hammer me big time. I passed a flag pole and the American flat was standing at attention pointing due South. I knew the next few minutes would be hard but from the turnaround point home I should be good to go. Before hitting my turnaround point there was a couple of minutes where I was laboring pretty bad and my speed dropped down to less than 10 mph.

Once I turned around the wind resistance went to zero and I was able to start pushing it again. I made it through No Man’s Land at 17+ mph and pushed the big chain ring all the way home. I start to labor pretty good in the last mile but it felt good.

All-in-all it was a great ride. Very good, in fact, for how I felt before the start of the ride.

The numbers broke down as: 11.56 miles, 49:29, 20 mph max, and 14 mph average

Tags: bicycle, bike ride, biking to live, ride, wind