Today’s ride objective was long steady distance. In the strictest sense, I achieved that. But it was my most frustrating day on the bike in a long time. My route took me from West Bend to Eden and back, 52 miles total, most of it on the Eisenbahn State Trail. It’s a familiar route and I have a good feel for how long it should take and how fast I should be going at any given time. What I didn’t count on today was a dramatic 180-degree wind shift that left me pedaling into the wind for the entire ride. I kid you not: I couldn’t have timed today’s ride more poorly. Obviously my flat-bar bike isn’t as fast as my road bike, and riding on gravel isn’t as fast as riding on asphalt. But 3 hours and 40 minutes of riding into the wind at an average speed of just 14.2 mph was dreadful.
On the upside, I used the ride to test my Profile Design top tube food carrier. I plan to do a couple of timed events this year where eating on the bike will be important. Today I discovered that the Velcro strap on the mesh cover is almost impossible to undo while wearing full-fingered gloves. Hopefully that won’t be an issue in July and August.
And kudos to Fond du Lac County for the new signs that tell Eisenbahn users which roads they’re crossing and how many miles remain between key landmarks.
The Cycling Gods pull that at least once a year on all of us just to show us who's really in charge. Think you're riding good, enjoying the ride? Bam...wind change. It could've been worse, at some point this year you'll leave under sunny skies and once you are at the furthest point from home, the clouds will roll in and the rain will commence. That seems to happen every year as well...I'm sure there are more....like getting a flat tire on the ONLY day that you didn't bring your tire irons and spare tube. All those things are only put down upon us by the Cycling Gods to make us enjoy the great rides all that much more. Ride on.
ReplyDeleteBC