Rode this morning with my rack and panniers on the MTB. I started out at 6:30, rode through cane fields on 311 for 6 miles, turned onto Bullrun Road for about 10 miles, stopped and chatted with some roadies at the corner store, then hit 6 miles back to the house. Felt good, and I brought 4 water bottles and 2 Cliff bars with me (love those things! All organic, too) so I decided to go double or nothing. Did the full loop again, only this time the sun came out and the wind picked up, and at points I was only turning 9 MPH into the wind. Finally turned onto highway 20 and had a tailwind back through the swamp, staying around 15MPH.

In the end, I made it, for a total of 43.5 miles. This is the longest I've ridden in one day since I did the MS tour last year.

zzOtherlandzz: I top out at about 16.5MPH on the mountain bike with a stiff tailwind. I usually average around 13. I'm jealous! It's all relative.