A surprise encounter with an old friend

With baseball practice cancelled, this had Aj going to bowling. My plan was to work in some elliptical or trainer time. With a call saying that I didn't need to pick him up, all plans were off. I went down stairs and did a quick once over with the Surly 1x1. It had been a long time since I have been on her and with all the rain we have had, I knew it was time for her to come off of the bench and get in the game.  I just hoped that every thing was working good enough and I had all the tools needed to fix most problems on the road side if needed.

   

The first thing I did was head toward the closest gravel I could find. My old faithful roads did not let me down. Well, they did keep it interesting with several sections flooded over. I only passed on one section because it looked kind of deep. I am sure I could have road it, but with another option right there, I just went the longer route. It also didn't take me long to remember that riding 42x20 gear on some of those climbs can really hurt. I cleaned all but one. I was disappointed by having to get off, but I made up with it by climbing the next one that I usually have trouble cleaning. The wind was brutal in some sections and even worse when I was climbing a steep hill into the wind.

 

It was not a huge ride, but hurt none the less. Between the wind and the climbing, it was a good workout and still made it home before dark. I tried to push the hills to work on my climbing at speed. Sometimes it seemed to work and others it didn't. It felt colder outside than the thermometer said it was. The wind was on the cool side. I probably over dressed to be safe, but overall it was just about right. I was cold at times and warm  others. I was drenched when I got home which is not the best, but it does help with trying to loose weight. It was just great to get outside and ride on a day that I figured I would be training indoors or end up not training at all. I know the rest of the week will be hard to get out if the weather cooperates and this weekend we will be indoors. I hope to get a work out in or so, but I am not holding my breath. I just hope the weather works out that I can get a ride in on Monday.