double cross

i finished up all my work early again, so i decided to take a long cross-county ride. i began with the wind at my back riding toward the harper county line three miles to the west. this was the section that i was too tired to finish off the last time i tried to cross sumner county twice, so i got it out of the way first. it was easy going out. impossible coming back. i was quickly too warm in all my layers. so i stopped off at the house and got rid of my thermal tights and my base layer shirt. i took off my skull cap too, but brought it and my glove liners with me just in case.

my layers more appropriate for the near 50 degree trip, i headed back out. i'd be lying if i said i enjoyed the trek east. it was awful. the 15-20mph winds were out of the southeast. they were gusty and strong. i had to fight to keep moving forward and to stay out of traffic. when i got to the beginning of the nine miles of no shoulder highway, i was a bit nervous. people are not always kind to cyclists who are in their way.

i made it to oxford and on past to the cowley county line before 3:30pm, averaging 13.4mph. i turned around and immediately blessed the wind. i was up to 20mph right away and stayed near that speed the rest of the journey home. the only time i dipped below my average the entire way back to argonia was on the final hill before the turnpike outside of wellington. i was dropped into the 14s and once into the 13s on that one.

i got home by 5:30pm and showered quickly. the boys, i discovered, were playing basketball. all cleaned up, i headed up to the gym with my kids. ended up playing with the pep band. that was really fun. the boys won! the girls play in the championship game of the tournament tomorrow night in arkansas city. the whole family will be there screaming for the team.

so...i rode 75.47 miles, from one end of sumner county to the other and back, in just under five hours. (four hours and fifty minutes, to be exact.) pretty slow unless you factor in the wind. 15.6mph isn't bad when the wind kills every effort to speed up on the way out. thankful for the tailwind on the way back. my legs were hurting, so the rest was welcome. barely had enough gatorade. i'm over 400 miles ahead of last year!

okay, i'll stop now. not much else to say. (75.47 miles @ 15.6mph)