Two Wheel Blogs

And now for something completely different...

Last night was a beautiful night. The temperature was perfect, and try as I may, I could not possibly describe the perfection of the evening (so imagine if you will the greatest central Missouri has to offer).

My wife, kids, and I had just finished a great meal and went for a short walk that was interrupted by my 3 kids stopping at the creek at the end of the street and doing what boys do for about 45 minutes (playing in the creek, stomping in the knee-deep mud, and crawling through coverts from one side of the street to the other).

It sure is great to post up here with some good news once in a while! Since I am not into racing much anymore, and I have no electronics on my bike, I only have my clock, my relative perceived effort, and my route distance to gage performance.

Today must have been a personal best (in recent years at least). I finished one of my typical routes in a lot less time than usual today. Not only that but I found myself humming along zipping up the hills comfortably in larger gears than usual. Could it be my fitness is not totally lost after all?

This year has really been interesting in regards to weather. Wednesday, we had some really choice weather with sun shine and warm temps. Every other day this week has been rain and gloom. Today was a mix of sleet, snow and hail with gusty wind under an overcast sky.

The perfect opportunity to get out and experience what will surely be the most unpleasant riding conditions of April 2008.

Little needs to be said about the ride. It was typical. You can not ride around here without dealing with steep climbs, so we made sure that we incorporated some of the steepest and longest climbs around (such as the Twall).

Photo: 

I don't know what kind of price we'll have to pay for this weekend, but whatever it is, it was worth it. I think today might have been a couple of degrees warmer than yesterday and no less sunny. Wind? Who cares?

I'm sure I have not ridden this much in a single weekend in years. Most enjoyable.

I think people in general were a little nicer today. A little more outgoing. Maybe the weather had something to do with it. Everyone I passed either smiled or waved. Some even said hello. That's good, all of it.

I won't have time to watch it (see the previous post), but today's also the Tour of Flanders. I'm resolved to catching up on it afterward though. Unlike here today, race conditions are forecast to be epic - rain, snow, hail. All that nasty stuff that you and I won't ride in because we're not paid to.

It's days like this I'm content to be blessed with ordinary genes.

Video: 

Start off with a good day playing and enjoying the family (had a great Easter egg hunt with the kids this morning). Then get some chores done around the house. Then, lay around until you get bored and feel as if your Sunday is being wasted (ideally this phase should last only minutes). Now, head out for a ride, preferably with a good friend or two.

For those that want to really enjoy the ride, you should select riders that are slower than you to ride with (this will pump your ego). If you find yourself in a situation where there is no one slower than you, find someone faster than you, but he just got done riding a century in windy conditions.

With a riding partner like this, you are almost guaranteed to feel like you had a good ride.

Photo: