Long Bike Ride

I went out to the South Ferry Terminal today. I thought it was something like 23 miles there, but it turned out to be almost 26 miles, for a round-trip of close to 52 miles.

I rode the first hour (to Blind River Rapids) at a very easy pace of 15.4 mph. It may be the same road I use every week, but this time of year the roadside scenery – the plants and flowers – seems to change every week. Today most of the red columbines from a week ago were gone, but there were quite a few yellow, daisy-like flowers blooming along the road. The trip out was helped by a fairly steady tailwind of 9-10 mph (which means return trip will be that much tougher, as usual).

After downing a couple of chocolate Chex mix bars I clipped back in for the ride to the Ferry Terminal and back to Blind River Rapids. Once past Blind Slough the pavement is brand new and is very, very smooth and a sheer pleasure to cycle upon. Again helped with some tailwind, I was able to kick my speed to close to 19 and 20 mph for the stretch out to the terminal. I watched the clock tick by and the milepost signs count up with no sign of the terminal. Obviously I had underestimated the distance. The terminal entrance road appeared at about milepost 25. And the pavement ended just a short distance later. So I turned around and headed back. I grabbed a energy bar and downed half of it, saving the other half to be consumed upon reaching Blind River Rapids once more. The two or three miles of this return was tailwind, but the remaining 23 miles or so was all headwind. But on a smooth surface, even headwind isn’t quite so bad because the wheels just glides so easily.

The smooth pavement doesn’t last forever and at Blind Slough once again the pavement turned rough and it was a fight against headwind to travel a few more miles to Blind River Rapids. I reached it 1h15m or so after leaving it earlier. Average speed for the whole trip thus far had climbed to 16.6 mph. I finished the rest of the energy bar and stretched my legs for a few minutes.

I climbed back onto the bike and started the final leg back to town and home. My legs were starting to feel a little heavier and it seemed the wind might have picked up a bit more. Whatever the reason, average speed for this final leg was not quite as fast. When I finally reached home, the final distance traveled was 51.7 miles in 3h08m at an average speed of 16.5 mph.

I showered, then consumed three leftover pancakes (from breakfast where I had four) with peanut butter, honey, strawberry jam, syrup, applesauce, and yogurt on top – lots of sugary carbs to replenish what I had burned.

That was my excitement for this Sunday.

Around midweek the weather forecasts predict showers returning. Until then, I should get in a couple more days of shorter rides.