Rides May weekend of 13/14

[7rider]

How has the riding been in your neck of the woods?

Welp....
Saturday, I did the Fort Ritchie Duathlon in Cascade, MD. A 5k run, 24k bike, and a second 5k run. It was a small race - only 27 finishers. Pro of that is that I can score high in my age group (like, yesterday, I was 1st! .... of 1 ). Con is that I usually run and bike alone.

Weather was crummy for the race....misty and very FOGGY for the run1. The bike was a 5 mile fast descent out of the fog into clear, but wet, roads, but then a 5 mile slog back up the mountain (we were in the Catoctins, very near Camp David, the Presidential retreat). It started to rain for real during my run2. I was soaked by the time I finished, so I loaded myself back into the car and left soon after finishing. Didn't stay to receive my lovely first place award.

Sunday, after waiting out a wet morning, DH and I took a 24-mile ride through Rock Creek Park in D.C. so I could try out a tri bike I've borrowed for a time to see if I like it and want to buy it. It is a 2003 Fuji Aloha and it's best described as it "fair" condition. It could benefit from a lot of TLC. Nothing major wrong with it, although the dated 1" headset and quill stem may be problematic. The saddle was downright painful (stock Fuji) and the ride was squirrelly. It was hard to keep that bike going in a straight line. Was that me and my newbie status on the bike, or is that something "off"? DH thinks I should hold off on buying this one and try other bikes to see if this ride is "normal" or if I could find something that fits me better and has a more agreeable ride (not that this was awful...I just have nothing to compare it to). Another option is re-building my old road bike with aerobars and new handlebars. Oh, so many options. What we really need to do is build that detached 2-car garage we've been talking about so we have a place to store all the bikes!