Two Wheel Blogs

Some days are just better than others and today was some day. Probably it was only the excellently restrained 25 miles of recovery yesterday, but whatever the reason, I'll take it.

The watts came easy today - big numbers with low perceived exertion. In two hours' riding time I managed a Normalized Power of just a tad over 250 watts. Not bad for an old fart like me with a gimpy back. Not bad considering it included stops for traffic and a bite to eat. Good weather and a tailwind will do that for you.

Speaking of tailwinds... Wow I love it when the wind pushes you up a climb in the big ring. Pond Rd headed west today was a breeze, literally. What a scream.

It seems everyone was out there on the road today too. I passed a ton of people, including a dude wearing a state championship jersey. I theorized that he woke up with it on and decided that rather than shower and shave he might as well head out for a recovery ride after yesterday's state MTB race.

Oh, and I want to apologize to the guy and his kids for setting a great example of what not to do by fumbling through a red light. I don't think it's possible to screw up a light worse than I did out there. From way off I saw it change to red. I calculated that by the time I got there I'd get the green. Perfect. Even better, this guy out pulling a trailer with one kid in it and two other kids on bikes were waiting on the far side. They'd pushed the button to the the crossing light in their favor. Extra cool.

As I rolled up the light changed to green so I checked behind to my left. When I looked back up the light went yellow and then red. Something in my oxygen-deprived brain told me that because I'd just checked for traffic and verified the all-clear I should just go. Half way across, to the center median, here comes a line of cars from the right. I pull up at the median and stop, stranded in the middle like a complete 1d10t

Part of me still wants to blame the light, but in my heart I know I just disobeyed a red light. I could almost hear dad pointing out my antics as an example of how not to ride a bicycle on the road. Maybe I belong on the trails.