On the road - my bikes are happy!

[DeniseGoldberg]

I was hoping to have a really good riding weekend - one that would convince myself that I'm ready to head out touring on my bike again. I can't seem to come up with touring plans that are less than about 45 to 50 miles a day on the bike, and I think I'm back! My total ride mileage for this weekend - although riding an unloaded bike - definitely supports my touring dreams. Now I just need to figure out where my bike and I are traveling, and when!

You already know that I started the weekend with a 22 mile ride Friday after work. Saturday? It was an absolutely beautiful day. I headed out to Robyn's in the morning, and we did a really nice 27-mile ride. Both of us had afternoon (non-biking) plans, so that was the length ride that we'd planned. I thought that was fine, but apparently my bike decided she wasn't done! I drove home, did a few weekend errands, and then my bike jumped out of the car and we were on the road again - 15 more miles.

Sunday started as a wet day, so I started my ride later than expected. OK, OK, I'm a baby and I waited for the roads to dry out! It was cloudy, but it was still a pretty good riding day. I was rewarded for riding by coming around a corner to see a blue heron standing in the middle of a pond. Luckily I had my camera with me, so I can share my view of this marvelous creature. Later in the afternoon, I saw the sun reflected in a pond. Still a nice day. Not too much later I started to see very gray clouds. Another rider passed heading in the opposite direction. He looked up and said "you know we are both going to get very wet, don't you?" He was absolutely right, and when I was about 4 miles from home a steady rain started. Too bad I didn't have my rain gear with me! Oh well, it was still a good ride - 45 miles worth of good.



Monday dawned with clear blue skies. The weather forecast called for a high probability of rain and afternoon thunderstorms. Do you think I listened? Nope. Out we headed (my bike and I)... It probably would have been smart to combine some shorter loops near home, just in case - but I didn't do that! I headed to Beverly (on the coast) and then up to Ipswich before turning towards home again. My goal was a 50 mile ride, and when I got home I'd done 54. I was caught in rain twice - not too bad considering the downpour with loud cracks of thunder and visible cloud to ground lightening strikes that greeted me as I pulled up to my house at the end of the ride. Talk about dumb luck and good timing!

Luckily I had my camera with me again, so I could get a shot of this very funny donkey taking a look at me through his fence. I guess he didn't quite know what to make of my bicycle - or maybe he wanted to go for a ride!



Oh, wait, this was supposed to be about biking, wasn't it? Here's a shot of a very happy Denise standing on the shore in Beverly, MA:


Sleeveless? Yup, my summer cycling garb has jumped out of the closet - It was 63 degrees when I started riding this morning, and I figured that was warm enough for bare arms and bare knees!