Time Trial

Okay, this wasn't really a time trial, but it was 4:08 when I left my Dad's house to get a short ride in before taking the honyocks back home, firing up the grill, grilling KC Strip steaks, eating dinner and all this is supposed to happen before their Mom comes to get them at 7:00...



So I aimed for an hour's ride. I'd love to do two or three, especially with Bike MS coming up so soon (sponsor me!), but time was not on my side.

Looking at weather.com before I left, I knew the winds were out of the East/Northeast, supposedly at 7 mph.

The direction was right, but those headwinds sure felt stiff as I powered down Merriam Lane. I wanted to see how far I could get and be back in an hour, so I mainly watched the clock and at 4:36, I turned around and came back. I reasoned that the headwind/tailwind difference would buy me a little time, but then the overall grade (while far from hilly) is uphill on the return because Merriam Lane basically follows Turkey Creek valley down to the river.

As it happens, tailwinds trump hills when the 'hill' is maybe a 1% overall grade. 28 minutes out, 19 minutes back, the whole 11.1 miles done in 47 minutes. I wouldn't have turned around quite so soon if I'd realized how strong that tailwind effect would be.

Saw Nan & Chris on their awesome Cannondale tandem coming back. Actually I passed them right before I turned around at House of Rocks and thought, I know at least a couple of the riders in that pack.

They're the ones I rode to the River Market with last November, who gave me the idea to chart the Northeast Passage to that destination from my house this summer. And looking at those two blog posts, I did both rides in the same Hawaiian shirt.

Anyway, got back to Dad's, scooped up my offspring and got home to light the grill and cook some strip steaks a perfect medium rare, five minutes on side one, three on side two with a hot fire and the steaks room temperature when they hit the grate. Bloody but hot, with golden potatoes and steamed peas on the side.

Glad I got a ride in, though, not only to burn off some of those calories, but because Em's back to school night is tomorrow so there won't be any Trek Recovery Ride in my week, and I think it's supposed to rain Tuesday. It may be Thursday before I'm back in the saddle.