I led a club ride on Saturday, 57 miles with as many hills as possible. More miles and more climbing than I've done in a while, with a strong headwind for much it. It was a good workout. I was overdressed, prepared for possible rain which didn't happen (not that I'm complaining about that.) The unneeded layers were wool so I was okay, though without the wind I probably would have been more uncomfortable. Afterwards I stopped at a deli for lunch then headed over to a bike club meeting to discuss our recent century ride. I was an hour early but feeling very sleepy so I took a quick nap in my car to pass the time.

So now I feel ready to attempt the hilly metric that I was planning to do this coming weekend. Except -- I looked at more details on the web page of the group that's organizing the ride, including rest stop information. For the metric route there is 30 miles between the first and second rest stops, with no bathrooms at the second rest stop, then 10 more miles to a stop that does have facilities. So that's 40 miles without a bathroom break and since those miles include some steep hills and 5 miles of gravel, my pace will be slower than usual. So I'd be looking at 3-4 hours without a bathroom break. Maybe that won't be a problem, but then again maybe it will and there's no way to know in advance. So most likely I will do the 45 mile route instead. It will still be a nice ride and a respectable distance. The extra miles on the longer route are like a lollipop -- out on a certain road, circle around and then come back on the same road. If I'm feeling good I can get some extra miles by making the turn from the 45 onto the metric course and then turning around early. On the other hand, we're in for heavy rain tonight and might get a tropical storm in a few days, so the weather might change my plans for me.

But I feel good about the last two rides I've done.