Ride # 38: Utility

3:00 Thursday afternoon, April 24 

I always feel good when I can combine biking with something I have to do which, in today's case, was to meet a conservation committee member at the property I inherited in Shirley, about 10 miles from Lemonstar. Instead of driving over there, I got the road bike out.

I also donned tights, a long sleeve fleece jersey, and a high vis windbreaker vest. Yes, tights. Yes, fleece. So much for summer-like weather! A strong NW west combined with temps in the mid-40s made it seem like early March all over again. But well-dressed as always for the conditions, I didn't mind the cool. The wind sort of sucked and at times buffeted me around a bit more than was comfortable but no harm resulted.

Because today's outing was a mission with a set meeting time, I had no chance to stop and photograph the two separate snacks that had quite recently been squashed by cars. Garter snakes. Dead before they could even enjoy the warming weather and the long days.

The thing is, I felt great today and wished I had more time to extend the ride after my meeting. The legs were strong, I had power on the climbs, the wind didn't exhaust me. Road biking season bodes well!

Except the transition from the Crux Elite to the Allez Comp might be impacting my hips and butt. The slight change of position, the minor elongated extension I have to adopt on the road bike, perhaps resulted in the increased soreness I felt the night of the ride and the day after. I'm not sure if it's just a matter of adjustment, of getting used to the change, or if I have to tweak the position of the handlebars and/or seat on the Allez Comp. Hard to say yet.

Ride Stats: 20 miles (32 K), 15.7 mph (at least half of the ride into a 20+ mph NW headwind), 75 minutes. Two dead snakes.