Originally Posted by
The Historian
I forgot to add there was 1500 feet of climbing. Much of it was on the way to church. Talk about a city on a hill! :-)
Another ordinary day, this time the day before:
My natural tendency toward indolence cropped up again today. I love riding, but I love sitting in front of a computer more. Also, it's warm, or at least warmer, inside than outside. For both these reasons, and more, I didn't get out today until about 1:30 PM. I rode Excelsior over to Bikesport, where I did a 'trade in'; they had Roark in for a check-up, and since I have only one set of pedal extenders, I had them take the extenders off Excelsior and move them to Roark, and I rode Roark home. The shop is holding Ex until I pick him up next week. Then it's a matter of getting pedal extenders for him so I can ride either bike without needing to change pedals.
Sun, a recumbent bike manufacturer that made the extenders I have on Roark, had a quality control issue with the last batch they made, and so they are out of stock. I may need to order Kneesavers, another brand of extender, although paying five times as much as I did for the Sun product irks me. Oh well.
Even though I was riding on Ex, the twelve miles seemed to fly by. I thought I rode strongly, getting to the shop in less than an hour and ten minutes. Perhaps the 40 degree weather helped me along. Once there, I warmed up with tea and conversation, and 45 minutes later I rode to my gym. This morning I'm a little sore from my upper body lifting, which is a positive sign. I then rode home, stopping to pick up dinner and warm up. I got in about 5:30, headlight on and blinker flashing.
I'm getting the hang of winter riding, but there are some problems to be worked out. One is cold feet. No, not just my reluctance to ride in the cold, but literal cold feet. My Specialized MTB shoes don't keep out the cold. Also, I didn't wear tights, and while I didn't feel too cold when the sun was out, once dusk arrived, my legs longed for them. Shorts and knee warmers aren't cutting it in sub 40 degree weather.
24 miles total for the day. 2722 for the year.