I turned 56 last Thursday. I didn't plan to ride my age but during the day the high 40's and sun got me thinking. My day started with a "fat burning" ride on the trainer at 5:30 AM for 1 hour with a Zone 3 HR. I know some don't think trainer rides count but my heart pounding out 8,580 beats didn't care where I was at. I got 20.4 miles in with an average of 20.4 mph (that's easy math!).

During work I kept looking outside and wishing I could be riding. On the way home from work I decided to get in a 2nd ride outside and possibly add the 36 miles to ride my age. By the time I got home the sky was clouded but it was still 48 degrees. As I was leaving the house my wife asked if I was dressed warm enough. I was in shorts and had a long sleeve shirt on with fingerless gloves and put the head light on the bike. As a precaution I grabbed a jacket and rolled it up and put it into my back pocket. The winds were around 20 mph and I decided to ride out into the wind and then work back riding a long rectangle. About 6 miles into the ride it started to drizzle a little bit. The sky to the SW looked lighter and I was riding into the wind and in that direction. Well, the drizzle truned to a light rain and I just kept going. When I got to point were I wanted to trun the road was closed so I had to go to the next road. The rain kept getting worse and it was now dark as I made the swing back towards home. I stopped and put the jacket on but the rain was cold on my legs and didn't feel very good as it soaked into my shorts and socks. Completing the ride almost became epic with the wind, rain and cold appendages. I made it home and at first couldn't move my fingers enough to unsnap my helmet and had difficulty walking in the garage because my feet were numb also. However I did ride 38 miles in that crap and even averaged 18.8 mph.

Even though there will be protest from some BF brethern, I'm taking credit for riding my age + two extra miles on my birthday due to the circumstances of the day.