after i got back from my early morning ride with my wife, i sat down and ate a quick breakfast before switching bikes and heading out on the highway. i was going to meet my family in wellington and needed a bit of a headstart to get there as near to the same time as them.

i wanted to ride faster than i ended up being able to ride. i thought i was warmed up enough to cruise to 19-20mph, but the stupid wind was stronger than i thought and more against me than it ever should be.

about ten miles out, i started looking over my shoulder to see if the family van was coming. i figured they'd need to be passing me soon if they were going to be on time for piano lessons at 10:30. i passed eleven miles, twelve miles. still no van. i raced up the hill at mayfield road and made it almost to anson road before they overtook me.

shortly after they took the lead in the race to wellington, i noticed that i was nearing the time my wife and i had taken to ride eight miles this morning. i was nearing 14 miles in the same amount of time.

at the 14-mile mark, i started slowing. the correction curves turned me into the south wind and when i came out of them, i had to deal with the long incline up to maize road. i slowed dramatically. i pushed hard, but couldn't completely overcome the evil forces of gravity.

i finally did make it over the hump and enjoyed the downhill to slate creek and the wellington city limits. a quick uphill into town and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. i passed the clinic where my wife was getting her TB test for work and kept going through the city to the back side of the high school. i snuck through the parking lot there and ended up out on the highway near wal-mart.

i looked for our van in the wal-mart parking lot. it wasn't there, so i pushed on to the turnpike where i turned around and came back. this time the van was there, so i circled the building and rolled to a stop at the back of the van.

it was a great ride - a little on the warm side, but i felt good nonetheless. hope i can get out for a slightly longer ride tomorrow morning. i'll have to get up earlier.