Today's ride was pretty short -- a little over 13 miles. I've been trying to lengthen my "regular" route that includes a very peaceful stretch of road that runs along the river, is wooded and shady and was just paved this year. I love riding that road and I've been trying to find a route that is low-traffic and includes some scenery that is longer. The most direct route around is 9 miles, the route I tried this evening is a little better than 13 miles, which will work well for an after-work ride for the next month or so.

Today's ride taught me a few things. At a stop sign about 3 miles into my ride, I saw and older, quite overweight man on an old Schwinn road bike. He followed behind me, and of course I was thinking that he would think I was fast Wrong. About a mile down the road, he flew past me (I looked down and I was doing 17.3 mph when he passed me). And he stayed ahead of me. He took the same route I did and I pedaled like crazy, but I never did catch up with him. I sure did push myself trying, though. I set a new personal speed record for a route that includes some hills of almost 15 mph average.

So, what did I learn? Don't judge others' riding abilities by their performance. I've got a lot of room for improvement. And, I will push myself harder when I'm trying to keep up with someone faster. (I've not yet ridden on a group ride.) All in all, a beautiful day for a ride!