I’m back from my Sunday morning bicycle ride. I did 24 miles this morning, with an average speed not worth mentioning. But that’s what happens, I guess, when you haven’t been on the bike for 3 weeks.

Also, it was really quite windy, and I find that usually, even though I have a tailwind for part of the ride, I can’t make up the speed during the tailwind portion that I lose during the headwind.

Still, it was a pretty morning; crisp and clear, chilly but not icy. There was no frost on the ground, but I was definitely glad for my gloves and jacket.

I can’t think of anything of particular note from this ride, other than the amusement I always feel when riding past a field of cows or horses and they stop eating and watch me ride past. Yes, that does happen. I usually try to to greet them when they do this, “Morning, Cow! Morning, Horse!” And then I just keep going.

Technorati Tags: bicycling, Cycling, ride, route

So, I did get to the greenway, but not on my bike. I went out and grabbed a cup of Chai at Starbucks with the plan of reading my book there, but the place was packed. So I took my bevy over to the park and walked the greenway to a little overlook with a bench and settled in to read a couple chapters. It was a perfect spot. The weather was cool in the shade, but in the sun I was absolutely comfortable.

Later, I did go home and get on the fixie and took a ride around the neighborhood. I only rode a little over 5 miles, but it was nice to get the blood flowing. All in all I had a nice afternoon outside.

I did finish the book I was reading, Death with Interruptions, and I’ll have to post at least some brief comments soon. I’m still absorbing a little bit.

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I passed on the ride this morning in favor of staying in bed. I think I’ll take the fixie out this afternoon. I’ve been wanting to try a rider longer than my commute on that bike. Maybe I’ll ride over to the greenway and give that a try.

Right now I’m watching the latest Tekzilla and drinking coffee and goofing on the interwebs.

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The ride this morning was nice, but difficult. The weather was a little crisp, I think about 58 or 59 degrees when I began, but I was mostly prepared for that. The problem turned out to be, and this always works this way, that about the halfway point I changed directions into a very strong headwind. It kicked my butt pretty much immediately, and I slowed to a crawl.

A side effect of the wind is that it chilled my legs. I wasn’t uncomfortable, but I felt that whenever I hit a hill that I needed to stand to climb my legs were not warmed up. Like I had just gotten out of bed, not like I’d been riding for an hour already.

So, I just settled down and did my ride as comfortably as possible. The final distance was 32 miles with an average speed of 16 mph.

Technorati Tags: bicycle, Cycling, ride, route, weather

I found a new way to ride to and from work today. I was aware that the Guilford County greenway passed near the office, but what I didn’t know is that there is an access path to the greenway at the end of Tarrant road near the office.

I rode down there after work and managed to get onto the greenway without any difficulty. From there it was a nice ride past natural scenery all the way to East Fork road which I can take to connect through to Guilford road and then home.

The mileage is a little longer, but it’s a really nice option to have when I want a change of scenery. The only drawback is right at the end the light from East Fork onto Guilford is at the top of a hill and there’s a fair amount of traffic there. Getting started again from a full stop on a hillside with cars behind is a little tough.

Still, I’m glad I now know of it for an alternate route. It was 7.6 miles to home instead of the usual 5.3 or thereabouts.

Technorati Tags: commute, Cycling, ride, route