Anti-Slack

Well, the weather report said it was supposed to be cold today. Lies! It actually turned out quite nice. Sun was shining all day, and it hit upper 60's. There was a slight wind, but more on that later. :)

I figured there won't be too many more days like this, so despite an exciting day of housework and computer work, I decided to throw caution to the wind and head out for a bike ride. Had to change a tire first though. Somehow, my front tube developed a hole. Good thing I've got a bunch of spare tubes!

After changing the tire, checking pressure, and triple checking that I reassembled the bike properly after it's trip home from Colorado ( handle bars on tight, gears shifting smooth, seat adjusted properly, brakes tensioned just right ), I headed out for a planned 30 mile ride ( which turned into a 40 miler ). As it was a little cooler than usual, I threw on a wicking undershirt beneath my jersey, but otherwise, no special gear needed ( yet ).

The ride was awesome, I headed North towards Wisconsin, and just had a great time watching the scenery roll by. The fields are full, the trees are changing color, and lazy afternoon fall sunshine filtering through the trees. Looked down at speedo, realized I was really cruising. Kept speed at 23+ mph for a good portion of first half of ride ( mostly flat, some gentle rolling hills ) due to a really nice 20+ mph tailwind. Woohoo, this is great! So good was the ride, that at 15 mile point, I decided to keep going another 5 miles up to a little park that I knew was up ahead.

Apparently, I left the logical part of my brain at home. See, since this was an out and back ride, that 20+ mph tailwind that made the ride out so nice turned into a headwind on the way home. Doh! Fortunately, there is a *huge* aero difference between my new tri bike, and my mountain bike. I tucked down and kept a good cadence on the way home, just concentrating about keeping that high, since I knew my speed would just suck.

Made it out to 1/2 way in a little over an hour, and took about an hour and 20 minutes on the way back. So not *that* bad, I suppose. Anyway, it was a beautiful fall day, and I'm glad I took the time to get out and enjoy it. This means I have to pack my work into this evening, but there are worse things that I could have to do, and it's a price I'll gladly pay. :)