Dirty rollers.
I got 48.6 (NOT 50) miles of dirt and pavement in my legs yesterday but I felt surprisingly fresh and eager to ride more today, especially since my plan was to ride a bit less. I figured I should get something done besides jack around on my bike for hours (although I that would have been fine with me).
I headed north of town for another mix of pavement and dirt roads. I mapped my ride (using the aptly named and useful mapmyride.com) and figured out a loop (actually a square with a rectangle attached) that would get me about 37 miles of various surfaces and let me hit some dirt roads that I hadn’t utilized in a while.
Michiganderburgh’s Dead Sea of Corn.
Unlike yesterday, the wind was back today, although I wouldn’t notice its ill effects until later in ride. For the first 25 miles I just enjoyed what apparently was a tailwind and some barely detectable crosswinds.
This little fella slithered right in front of me on the road as he made his way home.
The dirt roads were in some amazing shape today, with nearly all of them packed down hard and rolling fast– possibly faster than the crap paved roads!
I took a few minutes to take a few shots of some barns and to jack around with my MJU II (roll to be developed soon) but for the most part I just enjoyed riding good roads, through the mid-Michigan farmland.
It wasn’t until I made my turn to head east that I FINALLY realized that my legs weren’t that good: the tailwind I had was THAT strong. CUSS! I went from feeling like I had the best legs of the last five years, to feeling like a forty-three year old with an ever-expanding waistline and no fitness at all! In other words I felt like my old self again.
I told you I took photos of barns today. Sorry.
Despite the wind and the mind fornication games it wanted to play with me, I was happy with how I dealt with it. I mean it’s not like I had a choice, so I just put my head down, plowed on and tried to ignore the fact that I couldn’t even hear myself think… think about how much I wanted to eat like ten beef and bean burritos!!
The funny thing was, according to weather peeps, the wind wasn’t THAT bad. I think weather.com said 10 mph from the east. Not real sure if that was correct or not, all I know is that it was indeed coming from the east, but it felt like WAY more like 20 mph! As my dad used to say: “someone is full of shit somewhere!” At least I think he said that… it sounds like something he would say. Yeah, I’m pretty sure he said that.
Today’s ride may not have been as long as rides in previous days, but it was pretty swell and I was glad to be able to get out.
One of my over developed granny biceps.
One thing is certain, when a cyclist from Michigan (me) goes directly from six months of riding in arm warmers and jackets to three days of riding in bright sun wearing a short sleeve jersey, a sunburn WILL occur.
We’re supposed to get some rain tomorrow, so I’m probably going down to the shop to investigate a possible bike update and then try to get some promised freelance stuff done so I can free up as much time as possible over the weekend for riding.
I’m not sure when I’ll hit the trails on the mountain bike, I’ve been trying to shed winter poundage and get some much needed on the bike fitness back and right now rolling miles of dirt roads seems to be working swell, so I’m sticking with a good thing. I think my lack of desire to race my mountain bike right now–as well as my doctor’s preference– has me less focused on singletrack and more on getting my blubber down. It might also help if I actually put a saddle and pedals on my mountain bike and air up the tires. In due time…
Later.