What an odd ride I had this afternoon. Let me rephrase that. It was a fantastic afternoon/early evening for a ride and I felt pretty good. It was in the low 80's, low humidity and sunny with a very light breeze. Just a perfect day for a ride. But it was as if this was a relay race and I was 4 different people during the ride.

I started off testing my legs. They were a little tired, but not too bad. I pressed a bit right from the start. It felt like a real struggle. Less than a mile down the road a car pulled out in front of me while making direct eye contact with me. She just didn't care. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a close call at all. But I did have to hit the brakes in order to avoid hitting her car. I then hit a couple of construction spots where the road was down to 1 lane. When it did move, it was moving very slowly. This didn't last long but it was hard to get any kind of momentum. Then another car backed out onto the street blocking my path so I had to ride slowly again. Each time I restarted, it seemed like a huge effort. At this point I decided to just take it easy and enjoy a nice spin.

I was focusing on being comfortable. I even shifted into a smaller gear several times to keep that easy feeling. I felt very good if not necessarily strong. Around 12 miles I got onto the section of road that I really love to ride hard. I decided I would just take it easy though and continue riding the way I had been riding. Well, you know what the say about the best layed plans ... I had a downhill approach to a traffic light. There is a steep but not very long uphill after the traffic light. I caught the light green (which is a little unusual) so I cruised through the light and up the hill on the other side. This little bit of encouragement was all it took. I started riding this hard. I decided I would continue until I either got too tired or until my turn around point at 20.5 miles. I was moving along nicely when I saw another cyclist ahead. Unusual to see many cyclists here. As is usually the case, I just couldn't help myself and I had to ride as hard as I could to catch and then to pass him. Once past him, I had to keep pressing because I didn't want to pass him, and then have him go right past me again. In all fairness, it really wasn't a fair fight. It turned out he was on a mountain bike. I blew past him on the road, but from the looks of him and his bike, I'm pretty sure he would have whipped my butt in the woods. He looked like he knew what he was doing.

Once past him I soon saw another rider up ahead. So the chase continued. As I got closer to him, I was happy to see he was on a road bike. As I went past him, I thought I felt him on my wheel. That was cool so I kept pressing. About 2 miles later I got stopped at a traffic light. I was surprised to learn that he was no where in sight. I have no idea if he stopped, turned, etc. Oh well, my turn around point was only 1/2 mile up so it didn't really matter anyway.

I usually stop for a minute or two before beginning the return trip. Today I just kept riding. I continued riding hard for the next 11 miles feeling good. Once I made my turn, I realized I pretty had pretty much used it all up. I didn't mean to, but I could tell I was riding quite a bit slower than I had been. I didn't worry about it. I knew I could make it back okay so I just enjoyed the miles.

Payback is a b&*tch!! About a mile into the more relaxed pace, another rider flew by me. He yelled back "grab my wheel". After hesitating for a moment, I thought why not. I jumped on his wheel and we were quickly riding 24mph - 25mph! Unfortunately, as soon as we hit the first hill I lost his wheel. I just couldn't push up the hill as well as he could. Once I crested the hill I saw that he wasn't gaining on me by very much. This was all the encouragement I needed to see if I could catch him. I was amazed to see that I was able to catch him. I stayed with him for another mile until we came to a T intersection. We both came to a stop waiting for a clearing to cross and make our left turn. He shot across when I didn't think it was safe so I just shouted a "thank you" for the pull. It was just as well because he went a different direction after about 1/2 mile.

Now I really did blow my wad!! I was riding into a tiny breeze at this point, but it felt like a strong wind. I only had some rolling hills and 6 miles left, but I wasn't moving very fast. Again, no worries. I just focused on a smooth pedaling stroke and enjoying the beautiful early evening weather. Traffic had subsided quite a bit, so it was much more enjoyable out there at this point. With 2 miles left, I pushed up this steep but tiny little hill making a right turn home. I suddently felt like I had been re-energized. I started riding harder and felt pretty good doing it. I kep this pressure on myself for the full 2 miles right up to the house.

What a great ride. It was a perfect day and a lot of fun. I thought I must have averaged somewhere close to 17.5mph. Okay, maybe only 17.2mph or 17.3. I was shocked to see my pace for this ride!! Wow!! I couldn't be happier with that!! I'm sure I will feel this tomorrow though. :-)