a half before breakfast

i woke up at 4:00, but couldn't get my lazy self out of bed until 4:25. i dressed slowly and was on my bike and rolling by 4:35. that might be a bit too early. we'll see.

so i rode west at a moderate pace. not too hard, but a harder than recovery would require. i ran up and over l'alpe d'anville on the construction side of the barrier. i was very excited to find no gaping holes in the road. i rolled down the other side and pedaled on through danville toward harper. i reached the harper city limits just before 5:30.

when i got to the other side of harper, i had a decision to make and only three miles in which to make it. my choices were: 1) ride straight south into the wind all the way to anthony and either turn around or continue on around the anthony loop or 2) turn west again and head toward attica. when the time came to make my choice, i chose the second of the two.

it had been a very long time since i'd ridden this stretch of road. it was long enough ago that i had forgotten the long ascents i had to deal with. they weren't very steep, but they went on and on and on. there were two or three "hills" like that and, after my turn around, i discovered they were worse going east.

that was the only downside to the eastbound journey home. the wind was at my back and i was able to gain more than a mile per hour on my average. i went from 17.1mph up to 18.2mph at the end.

two memorable events took place before i reached home. the first was the meeting of evil dog's replacement. the new "evil" dog seemed a bit more friendly, but he was fast and he did come out on the highway. the second event was the climb up l'alpe d'anville from the west side. as i approached the bridge, the construction traffic light was red. an eighteen wheeler was sitting at the line waiting for green. i rode out and around him and was about to switch to the construction side of the bridge when i saw the light change. i don't know what came over me, but i switched tactics and sprinted up and over the monstrosity at 25mph plus! the truck never caught me.

so now i'm back at home, cooled down and ready for breakfast and a shower. (i've got to wash off the gnats. there were swarms of them everywhere!) may be riding with a dailymile friend tomorrow morning. still need to check on that with my wife. (50.07 miles @ 18.2mph)