Week 9 - Monday

I got back on the horse tonight for a 25 mile ride. The temperature was great, nearly 70 degrees and sunny, but that same wind out of the southeast that tortured me on yesterday's ride was still going strong. Plus, because I wanted to ride the "Joplin route", I would be riding with the wind on the way out and would have to fight it on my way home.

I left the house around 5:30pm and cruised easily at 20-25mph for most the route out, with the wind only occasionally shifting and hitting me sideways. I was as 13 miles before I knew it, just shy of Middleton road. It was a great evening and the farm country around me was beautiful. I stopped briefly at the turn just to look around and catch a drink before turning into the wind for my return trip.

Once I started off the wind was an immediate smack-down. However, I seemed to be more accepting of it today and just found a higher gear, dropped back down into my aeros, and settled in for a long slog home. Like running, road cycling alone leaves you plenty of time for your thoughts. I tried to occupy myself thinking through work and family stuff to pass the time along the way. I occasionally checked my speed and even into the wind was maintaining 14-15mph most of the way. Oddly enough, my legs felt stronger on this ride, even though they'd been used heavily the previous two days.

I got back into Meridian and cut through a couple of subdivisions to avoid traffic. I reached home at 26 miles in 1 hour, 33 minutes. My average speed was 17.3mph, which was better than yesterday's 15.3mph. Not bad with the wind I suppose. Still too slow for my target time on the bike leg of the race, but I still have time to improve on this.