I've been trying to plan a biking vacation (or two), but it's been difficult without knowing whether I'm back in prime biking condition. My goal for this nice long weekend was to do three reasonable length rides and to see how I felt at the end of the weekend. And - I think I'm back!
My weekend started a little early when I decided to take advantage of what turned out to be a beautiful Friday afternoon. I left work at 3 - a bit early, but it felt like the right thing to do - and headed home to join forces with one of my bicycles. My bike & I managed a nice 22-mile late afternoon ride. It definitely felt good to be back out on the road, my first ride since last Saturday's jaunt with Robyn & Jean. (Weather wizard, please listen - you're not supposed to keep us off of our bikes at this time of year!) It was amazing how messy some of the roads were - lots of leaves and small twigs scattered across the road surface. And it was scary that I saw several trees down not too far from my house. The roads were mainly dry, although there were enough spots where the road was totally covered with water that my bike requested (and received) a nice wash when we returned home. Clean, and ready to hit the road again!
Saturday? It was an absolutely beautiful day. I headed out to Robyn's in the morning, and we did a really nice 27-mile ride. Both of us had afternoon (non-biking) plans, so that was the length ride that we'd planned. I thought that was fine, but apparently my bike decided she wasn't done! I drove home, did a few weekend errands, and then my bike jumped out of the car and we were on the road again - 15 more miles.
Sunday started with wet roads, so I started my ride later than expected - waiting for the roads to dry out! It was cloudy, but it was still a pretty good riding day. I was rewarded for riding by coming around a corner to see a blue heron standing in the middle of a pond. Later in the afternoon, I saw the sun reflected in a pond. Still a nice day. Not too much later I started to see very gray clouds. And more gray clouds, dark and threatening. At that point rider passed heading in the opposite direction. He looked up and said "you know we are both going to get very wet, don't you?" He was absolutely right, and when I was about 4 miles from home a steady rain started. Too bad I didn't have my rain gear with me! Oh well, it was still a good ride - 45 miles worth of good.
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| It was just amazing to see this heron standing quietly in the middle of this pond (although it's also possible that it is standing in a field that just happens to be covered with water). I wish I'd been able to get a little closer, but I suppose I should be happy with the posing bird! |
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| This reflection shows clouds, but blue sky too... The blue disappeared not long after I stopped to take the picture. |
Monday dawned with clear blue skies. The weather forecast called for a high probability of rain and afternoon thunderstorms. Do you think I listened? Nope. Out we headed (my bike and I)... It probably would have been smart to combine some shorter loops near home, just in case - but I didn't do that. I was afraid that if I started on a shorter loop that I would get bored and head home without completing my target mileage. I headed to Beverly (on the coast) and then up to Ipswich before turning towards home again. My goal was a 50 mile ride, and when I got home I'd done 54. The first time I got caught in the rain was just outside of Ipswich, a good 20 miles from home. I was able to share a road-side shelter - actually probably a place that a local farmer uses to sell produce in the fall - with 2 motorcycle riders. We stood and talked during the heavy part of the rain. I kept looking up and wondering how the water was falling on us since there was blue sky immediately above us! That little break lasted only about 10 minutes. The road was a bit wet, but it dried out fairly quickly. The second time the rain started I was in North Andover, but still 3 or 4 miles from home. That stopped fairly quickly. I was really lucky though, considering the downpour with loud cracks of thunder and visible cloud to ground lightening strikes that greeted me as I pulled up to my house at the end of the ride. Talk about dumb luck and good timing!
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| I'm so glad that I've developed a habit of taking my camera with me. When I saw this donkey standing next to the fence in his very large field, I just had to stop to chat with him and to take a few pictures. |
I'm definitely happy with my biking mileage this weekend, a total of 165 miles. I think I've proved to myself that I'm ready to start touring again - so now I should be able to put some plans into place. I think I'm going to start with something relatively short - a 5 or 6 day tour in Maine in late June. My initial thought is Bar Harbor and north, but that could change. Since late June is not very far off, I think I'd better try to firm up some plans this week!
 | Is this the face of a happy cyclist? I think so! |
More pictures? The photos from this weekend are on the last two pages of my It's spring! 2005 picture gallery.
