Saturday, July 17, 2010

A Windy, Hot Saturday Ride


View Wayne Co and back in a larger map

I had done this route a couple years back and thought I'd give it another try today.

OK, let's set aside the idea that I was lazy this morning and wasn't able to get on the bike until noon or so. How hot was it? I went through my entire water bottle by the end of the ride, could feel the heat from the road coming up through my shoes. The SSW wind was enough to mostly cut my regular speed by 5mph or so especially coming south. On the southern border of the ride, I come down this big hill that I should have easily hit 30mph on, but was held to 15mph due to the unencumbered wind that cut across the cropless field to the south.

Other features of note was the fact that Ryan Rd. Was just tarred and graveled this week. Aside from the loose stone, the sun reflecting off the clean white rock seemed to elevate the road temp enough to make me consider taking a different route back. No dogs to speak of.

With all this said, I kept as much energy as I could in reserve for the ride back and the strategy seemed to work. I was fatigued when I returned but not wiped out.

A good ride overall. 25.76mi; 1:42. I'm almost at 200mi since late June.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Tonight's Ride


View Spencer Lake Ride in a larger map
Relatively flat and long township roads with very little berm or traffic. Noteworthy on the ride were a sawmill and some Amish farms. Wind was blowing north, so the backstretch felt great. There absolutely no traffic on Smith Road on the way back to the car. Spencer Lake was larger than I imagined and seems like a nice fishing spot for the kids. My right wrist was bothering me tonight, I may have to invest in some cycling gloves. I drove Smith road all the way home and saw a berry farm just west of Medina that I'll have to remember to go back to. Another beautiful night to do some riding.