Cromulent

Sunday here was a glorious day for a glorious ride. My wife was at a baby shower. And while she sat around sipping punch, eating tiny sandwiches, and watching grown women get way too excited about nooks and onesies, I took the dog for a walk and then hit the roads. The air was warm, the sun was shining, the wind... it wasn't bad, but it seemed to come from all directions at the same time. All I could do was ignore it.

I rode from Milwaukee to Port Washington and then on to Fredonia… riding past beautiful homes, farms, cows, and horses. It wasn’t the hilliest of rides, but it was great.

I had the chance to ride with a couple of guys I met along the way. I rode for a few miles with John, a retired social worker, who was on a very sweet Klein. Great guy, and we had a nice conversation about biking in Colorado and Europe (I haven’t done either), the Tour, knees, and other random cycling related stuff.

In Port Washington John went to refill his water bottles, and I went to look for some hills. I found them on the way to Fredonia. Not terribly steep, but long, and through some of Wisconsin’s finest Dairy Air. There were cows, and lots of them.

At Fredonia, I turned around and headed back to Port Washington. I took a break there for a few minutes to chew on a cliff bar, refill my water bottles, and admire Lake Michigan and all the boats in the marina. What a view.

On the way home I met an IT consultant from New Jersey named Joe. We rode together for 10 miles or so. He was wearing a Horribly Hilly Hundred jersey and we talked about that ride for a while. We talked about jobs and school and living in Milwaukee. And we talked about racing, cycling advocacy, and other random cycling related stuff. He stopped to take a break. I was almost home, and so I kept going.

Seventy miles in just under four hours. Not too shabby. My butt was killing me, but my legs felt pretty good. I think it's time for a new saddle.

I got home about a half-hour before my wife did. She had a nice time seeing all her friends, but she was jealous. I cleaned up, and we went out for dinner. The Mexican food and beer tasted brilliant. It was a good day.

Oh… John and Joe, if you guys are out there, it was nice riding with you.

oboeguy

I love that kind of day. I did a solitary 55 miler in the rain yesterday and couldn't have been happier about it. I guess it would have been nice to chat with some other riders but there weren't all that many out there until I was almost home when the sun started coming out.