just short

my eyes popped open at exactly 5:00 this morning. i rolled out of bed and pulled my stuff together in about 15 minutes. i hit the road around 5:20.

i headed west toward harper. i wasn't pushing overly hard at first, just keeping a steady rhythm. i focused on maintaining a consistent cadence over the flats and up the hills. felt pretty good.

i had to cross l'alpe d'anville on the construction side again. the light just isn't reliable enough. i don't trust it to keep a big truck from coming my way before i make it across.

on the other side, i kept pedaling toward harper. i snuck past stupid dog's house, my legs pounding out the same song they'd been singing all morning long.

i passed quickly through harper and headed south toward anthony. i was pushing harder now in an attempt to get to anthony before my cut off time. if i didn't make it, i'd have to turn around and head back the way i came.

i didn't make it.

i was still two or three miles out of anthony when the moment of truth came. i had to turn around or risk getting back to town late for my ems shift. that tends to be frowned on, so i reluctantly swung my bike around and headed back north toward harper.

the trip back home was hard. the wind was not as much help as i had planned on it being. i had to push myself to keep up the pace i needed to be back by 8:00. i felt alright, just not as good as i had earlier. i spun on, hoping to have time for an extra mile or two when i got back to town. i really wanted another half century.

alas, it was not to be today. i hit the edge of town with only five minutes to spare. there was no sense in riding more, so i followed the most direct path back to my driveway and pulled to a stop...only a little disappointed that i hadn't hit 50. (46.11 miles @ 18.3mph)