Oh what a beautiful morning! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the skies are clear. I decided to skip the club rides today and ride out in my little town. At about the 6 mile mark I came upon a bird (barn swallow) on the side of the road. I stopped to see if it was hurt. It was okay it had recently left the security of its nest. The two of us spent a few minutes checking each other out and I think it quickly realized I was not going to harm it. It sat on my finger for about 30 seconds before it decided to test its wings and off it went to a tree on the other side of the road. It was a beautiful encounter and one I shall cherish. The rest of the ride was uneventful. My legs were quite heavy in the beginning and I had trouble getting comfortable on my saddle due to the nasty bruises popping up on my bottom and inner thigh as of a result of my rear end collison on yesterday's ride. However, at about the 15 mile mark things seemed to settle into place, I found my cadence and tossed my chain up on my big ring and flew home. I rode 24 miles today and averaged 16.8 mph - yet another good day on the bike.