Faster Than a Speeding Lobster

Got my car out of the shop and got home with enough daylight to ride, but I wasn't sure if it would rain or not.

I'm also uncertain my pepper spray has enough dog treat left in it after I used it on Doc the hell-hound on Saturday.

Doc has to be the world's only aggressive bloodhound, and he was out when me and the girls got to my Mom's. At one point he went around the end of his house and the girls made a break for it, and I grabbed my pepper spray and stood my ground. Sure enough, Doc charged me, and I let loose a stream. Doc has his faults but stupidity isn't one of them.

He stopped just short of the stream, licked his chops some, and sat down. He didn't back up, but he didn't advance on me after that. Then the relative who's been doing some work on Doc's owner's house came and took him inside. He was apologetic about the whole thing, laughed when I said I'd used the pepper spray. 'I don't blame you,' he said. 'He's fuckin' Cujo.'

So without my farm dog repellent, I really didn't want to get outside the city limits, even if I was sure it wouldn't rain.

The weather was glorious, really. Overcast and 75ºF, perfect for pinning the ears back and hauling ass. Which I did, though I realized when I got to a turnaround about five miles into the ride that a strong tailwind had been giving me a real boost. I was averaging almost 17 mph on that first leg, but was lucky to keep 13 or 14 going back the other way.

Even if I could remember all the loopy turns I took through the subdivisions, I can't map it on MapMyRide because half the streets I tore through are too new to show up on their map.



But a personal record for a ride with stop signs, lights, and traffic. The only time I've been faster was at the airport, where I managed a 16.0 mph average for 22 miles. Here in Gardner, also on a relatively flat course, I managed 15.4 mph for 18.6 miles.