I did 23 miles today with DH. Normally I give out at 8-10 miles so this was a surprise. However; it wasn't 95 degrees out with grueling hills and trying not to get blown over by semi trucks down the highway. It was overcast, around 65 degrees and no wind.

the local bike trail opened up now that the flooding on the Missouri has stopped. No cars. No hills to crawl up and no stopping for traffic. Just a nice flat limestone trail through cornfields (literally) and then goes through the woods to the starting point. We started in the middle and headed north.

However; cycling on a limestone trail can be dangerous. We almost got ran over by a deer. We must have scared him coming down the path as he bounded right in front of us out of nowhere. I had visions of that guy that was hit by an antelope while racing his bike for a couple of seconds until he ran up into the hills.

We also saw a coyote further down running across the trail and a hawk flew over us through the trees. Wow. He was pretty.

So does all this hill climbing all summer equate to 23 miles of straight limestone trail each time I went out?