Wednesday, September 15, 2010

lightning and roadkill

i went for a swim on my bike this morning. the air was thick enough to drink with the relative humidity hovering between 93% and 96%. ugh! that kind of moisture makes it hard to stay cool even when it's 65 degrees out. if it wasn't for the air movement from the wind, it would've been unbearable.

speaking of the wind, it was awful. i was buffeted by it all the way out and back. it was gusty and strong. later today, the sustained wind speeds are supposed to be over 20mph. i guess i can be glad i didn't have that to deal with.

i started out thinking i'd have time to ride 20 miles this morning since i woke up a little earlier than usual. i was up at 4:45 and on the road at 5:05. i rode at a moderate pace going east. the wind didn't let me maintain super high speeds. it resisted every effort i put in.

when i reached ten miles, i decided i had time for another mile or two before turning around. i rode past the highway department's sand and salt depository and to mayfield road where i turned back toward home.

on the way out, i had noticed some cloud to cloud lightning way off in the distance to the south and east. it wasn't close enough to worry about, so i kept riding. it wasn't until i turned back west that i noticed electrical activity in the clouds to the north and west. that made me a bit nervous. it may come as a shock to you, but i hate lightning.

besides the "new" lightning, i noticed another oddity on the way back. there was more roadkill on the north side of the road. more than once, i had to go out and around a bloated this or a flattened that. in a few cases the critter was still recognizable. most of the time your guess would've been as good as mine.

i rolled into my driveway at 6:28. my outbound journey had taken 44'49". i stopped the clock on the return trip at 37'02". oh what a difference fear of lightning and the push of the wind can make. (24.14 miles @ 17.6mph)

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