I set out this afternoon after cleaning my bike a bit. I noticed that my head was sweating before I was done oiling the chain (the back of my head sweats like 16 horses after running the Preakness, and it's not as if I even have all that much hair!)... hmmm... warmed up, didn't it?

Well yes. Yes it did. I rode some of my usual trails and got in 25 miles; should have stopped for water a little sooner than I did, not because I felt dehydrated, but because I was so hot, I sucked it down and swallowed some air with it. Which made my chest hurt. Which gave me the fleeting thought: Gee, this would not be a good place to have a heart attack. (My older brother having prodigious talent in the belching arts, he got it all; I am seriously deficient in that area. Having a bubble of swallowed air hurts!)

But I digress. It was sunny and warm; I saw a Great Blue Heron in the swamp, a turkey vulture hanging out on a mud flat in the Anacostia River, a lot of mallards, and a good number of red-winged blackbirds. Also bunnies and a turtle. No deer, however, which surprised me a little.

I was not fast -- 11.5 MPH. There were a lot of people out. I chastised only one person, handed out many many compliments to children who followed directions/paid attention very well (thereby avoiding injury, woo-hoo!), and managed to avoid running into any of the clueless parents. A good day!