Good ride of just over 20 miles on the C&O towpath after lunch in Shepherdstown, WV. The number of strolling families on the towpath made it clear that all the young'uns were beginning the new semester at Shepherd U. After a few miles, though, they all cleared out and I pretty much had the path to myself. One of the benefits of starting to ride at 3:30 in the afternoon

Pushed myself a bit and hit a new average speed of 13.1mph, which I think is not too shabby considering the gravel, and the puddles/tree roots/rocks that I had to navigate over and around. All that, and the number of times that I had to slow my pedaling to tug at my shorts. Still gotta get more spandex *sigh* Other than that, the ride felt really good.

I would have liked to have done another 5 miles or so, but I ended up cutting the ride short due to an unidentified creaking noise coming from my BB/cranks (On the downstroke of the right pedal and more pronounced when I was in the drops. And I couldn't replicate it when I lifted the bike and turned the crank. Anyone have any ideas?)