Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Cotton pickin' ride...

It was 37 degrees when I left on my ride this morning. 37 degrees is warm when you're running. It is not warm when you're cycling. I wasn't quite chilled, but I was pretty cool.

Riding west on Highway 54 was not much fun. Once I left town, it was a slow climb for several miles. The climb, while not steep at all, seems to go on and on forever. The smooth, new asphalt under tire makes it only slightly more bearable than a root canal without Novocaine. Well, maybe it's not that bad. More of an annoyance than anything.

I had the wind in my face on the way out, so I didn't get a lot speed. My average when I turned around at the Hi-Tech Cotton Gin just outside of Cullison was only 14.8mph.

On the way back, I was able to ramp it up a bit. The wind was at my back, but not nearly as helpful as I would have liked it to be. I'm serious when I say this particular out and back feels like it's uphill both ways. The last little hill into town was more of a pain than it should have been. I don't know if I was tired or what. I had to stand to keep my momentum going.

I almost had to stop at Main Street, but the light changed just as I was about to click out of my pedals. I stomped on it and beat the car next to me through the first block and a half. I rode on east, jumping over to the left lane when the traffic thinned so I could take a left at Stout and make my way back home. (18.24 miles, 1:08:24, avg. 16.0mph, max 23.0mph, garmin data)

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