First stop was at Harp's where I wanted to chat with Angie for a few minutes. Because I notched up the intensity of the biking, I hadn't really seen her, except for a quick hello, since we've been back from Panama. She's been a big supporter of my biking going back to when I took the trip to Georgia and I would send her the occasional post card. She's been just as big a follower of the blog and I missed our encounters as I would go through her checkout line. So, it felt important to stop by to reconnect and say hello.
Another reconnect was with my neighbor John who I also have not seen or spoken with since before we left for Panama. I stopped by his office and we ended up talking for almost an hour. As I moved on to the next few errands of the morning, which was turning into the after noon, I was realizing just how much I needed to make these social calls and I was already adjusting my 50 miler down to a 30 miler.
By the time I finished with the errands, unloaded the van, had something to eat and was finally ready to get on the bike, it was after 1:30. I also was realizing that I was really exhausted; the last two days of biking I had really pushed hard and my quads both felt as if they had muscle colds. Once on the bike, I was thinking, horrors of horrors, that I just might make this a bare minimum ride day. The fact that I was checking the odometer several times during the FIRST mile was not a good sign.
I really did pick a bad day to be so tired; the temperatures were in the mid 70s with calm winds and low humidity. It was the perfect day for doing a long ride. But, alas, such is life. It was a gorgeous day for contrails. Many seemed to appear out of nowhere, last for several seconds and then fade. The contrail formed by the plane above was long and straight and remained very visible. I love zooming in and capturing what appears more like an infrared image of the plane rather than the plane itself.
I've passed the house above countless of number of times but today was the first time I saw the face on the right side: the two upper windows, the eyes; the lower small dormer roof, the nose or mouth. This is viewed across a pasture from about 200 yards away. When I drove on the road right in front of the house, the face wasn't that visible.
I was 99% certain I was ending the ride when the hour was up. I was constantly yawning and feeling sleepy at times like when I was on the 24 hour ride. Getting home and resting seemed like the prudent thing to do. But, let me at least get in 15 miles. That came and, sure enough, I talked myself into a couple of more miles while at the same time asking myself, "What are you doing?" The muscles seemed to ease up some and I started playing mind games that got me to 20. Might as well go ahead and tack on one more for good luck. Not 50 miles but at least a respectable amount so that the average did not take a plunge.
Today's Ride: 1hr 53mins. 21.01 miles 77° Miles YTD: 7,866.43
Number of miles per day needed to reach 10,000 miles by the end of the year: 31.38
To see older postings, search the Archives listed on the right had panel.
To see postings before 15 August 2011, please go to www.mylifeasabike2.blogspot.com
To see postings before 11 June 2011, please go to www.mylifeasabike.blogspot.com
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