June 17th rides

Yes, the weather in the northeast has been awful and except for today, it looks like it will be bad through the weekend, into next week. I am never going to make my mileage goal for July 1. At first, I though I might make it 2 weeks ahead of schedule, but no way. The fact that I no longer commute to work has not helped.
I went on my first ride since we came back from Block Island; I've been sick and trying not to do too much, as I usually do! So, I erred on the side of caution and did my 15.1 mile loop, except I did it in the opposite direction than I usually do. There's more climbing on the back end of the loop this way. A weird thing happened. As I was climbing the second of the three small hills, 2 people passed me; they actually slowed to talk to me, and then a giant garbage truck coming from the other direction decided to stop, and back into a driveway. I had to stop for at least 2 minutes. When I took off, I was climbing, but because I usually see this road from the other side, I wasn't sure which hill I was on. Then I saw a sign that said road construction and I thought "Oh no!" I saw a detour arrow and thought, gee where will I go, since all of the side streets are dead ends. Then I realized I had already climbed the last hill and I was at the normal point where I turn toward home! I had been climbing in a much higher gear and going my usual speed, even though I didn't feel particularly zippy. It just shows how doing a loop in the opposite direction seems like a totally new ride. I mean, I have been on this road hundreds of times!