Okay, started a new routine today. If it's new can it be a routine?

Monday
Drive to work and go for a run
Ride home

Tuesday
Ride to work
Drive home

Wednesday
Drive to work and go for a run
Ride home

Thursday
Ride to work
Drive home

Friday
Drive to work and go for a run
Drive home

Saturday & Sunday
Recovery days

Left the shop this afternoon, it's pouring rain and 70 F with 15 mph winds out of the E, which puts the wind right at my back for about 75% of the ride. HOWever, all is not roses. These roads are a crushed coral substrate in the asphalt, which means they've got about the same friction coeficient as greased teflon when they're wet. No kidding, in 42-23, my favorite take off from the light gear, if I'm not careful and stand on it like I normally do I'll spin the back tire and go exactly nowhere.

As I'm cruising on down the slippery road I'm thinking, "You know, theoretically, if you were going fast enough and lost it on this slick road, your body would continue in a straight line making it more likely that you could recover the bike and lessen the likelyhood of doing a gravity check." Yeah, right.

So anyway, I'm coming through town, approaching a light I've taken the lane when a car pulls out in front of the car in front of me. She gets on the brakes and starts to slide. I get on the brakes and the rear wheel breaks loose. The little voice (soft sultry female, of course) is saying, "Warning. Collision Imminent. Immediate Evasive Action Required....Warning. Collision Imminent. Immediate Evasive Action Required.................." Well we got through that one with everything right side up and intact.

After the big hill climb, I'm nearly home. Following a car, if we were going fast enough I could have been drafting. Now it's important to point out here that we drive on the left. She's preparing to hang a right. Turn signal comes on, brake lights come on, everything's groovy, then the little voice says, "You have room to pass on her left." The ditches on the secondary roads around here seem to be an after-thought. They're open pre-formed concrete with, usually, concrete covers on them, sometimes a metal grill work. This ones concrete until just past the car where I want to jook it back out on the road, of course right here in this spot it's aluminum diamond plate and I can't really see well enough to tell this because of the rain and fog on my glasses. For the folks that may have never experienced this, let me tell ya', wet rubber tires on wet aluminum diamond plate are slicker-'n-snot-on-a-doorknob. I lost both ends like right now.

I put my speed theory to the test. I'm now flying through the air in the cycling position wondering where my bike went. It's still under me, but in no position to keep gravity from sucking me to the ground.

Then all of a sudden WOOOO-HOOOOO, I've recovered it. I didn't go down WOOOOO, DID YOU SEE THAT? Wait a minute. There's nobody around but the car driver that just turned off. WOOOOO, I DIDN'T LOOSE THE FRONT END, I DIDN'T LOOSE THE REAR END. I COMPLETELY LOST THE WHOLE BLOOMIN' BIKE AND RECOVERED. WOOOOO.

Think there may have been a lesson in this afternoon's ride that I'm supposed to remember, but at forty something I would think I should already know what it is.