Club ride SW of the Twin Cities metro - out in the farmland by the Minnesota river. Only about 10 people showed up to the ride, maybe because it's kind of far from the metro, and after just two miles I realized that I was way out in front with one other guy. Happily, it turned out that we were very well matched and we did the whole 77 mile ride together, trading pulls ranging from one to five miles, depending on the winds. We finished with an average of 19 MPH, which for me is very respectable. It was supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny, but we managed to ride under a small localized storm for a good chunk of the ride. It didn't soak us, we just got damp.

My legs were killing me for much of the ride - not fatigue (well, in the last 10 miles I was pretty fatigued), just pain in places that I don't normally notice, such as my upper calves and the muscles in my inside upper thighs. I changed the position of my cleats the other day - I wonder if it could make that much difference? I can't decide whether to change my cleats back to their old position or to keep them as is (I think I get a little more power the new way) and wait for my legs to adjust.