A Break in the Weather
On Monday, I got rained out of my morning commute—a pouring rain that seemed to slack off just as soon as I climbed out of my car at work and started up again as soon as I got off work. On Tuesday, it was even worse. The forecast today predicted the same. As a six-day-a-week cyclist, I get pretty grumpy when I can’t ride.
This morning, it was raining when I got up. I drove to work. I hate driving to work. It makes me feel like, well, not like myself. I feel confined and crippled and lethargic. I love the way a nice stomp home makes me feel—powerful, sleek, fast, and sexy.
As soon as I got to work this morning, the rain stopped. It was about 65°F this afternoon. I made a quick stop at the bank on the way home, rushed into my cycling clothes, and jumped on my beautiful Trek.
All that pent-up frustration melted away and I kicked around Watkins Avenue and up the rise along Valparaiso, pushing over the little rises above Stanford University. I felt great—burning fat I surely slathered onto my body in the last few misses and my puny Saturday. I boiled off the Page Mill stoplight, leaning low into my drops and pushing to see what I could get on the half-mile descent. I topped out at 36.5 mph and pounded southward toward Outfitter.
Since I didn’t get onto my bike until just after 4:30, I expected to get about an hour and a half before it got dark. As I shoved into a tighter gear and leaned closer toward my front tire on the cruise back toward home, I decided that I’d like 25 miles for my chart today—a day on which I thought I wouldn’t get to ride anyway. A nice shove up and over the Page Mill crest (on the way back) and the light began to fade a little bit. It was getting pretty dark as I careened down Atherton Avenue at a nice kick (yeah, I felt that recessed manhole cover at a pretty good speed) and closed out my “dog-in-the-park-after-a-whole-winter-inside” ride with an average speed that set my fastest day ever. Zoom!
Today : 25.60 mi in 1:18:29 (19.6 mph avg / 36.5 mph max)
February : 324.46 mi in 17:07:53 (18.9 mph avg / 41.0 mph max)
2005 so far: 839.69 mi in 45:13:17 (18.5 mph avg / 41.0 mph max)
2005 goal : 5000 mi (4160.31 mi to go : 16.79% complete)
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