Catching up -- I've gotten in some good rides over the past few weeks. Summer has finally heated up. Last weekend (the 9th or 10th, don't remember which) I rode 55 miles with some friends in a shady, sparsely-populated part of southern Maryland. Another friend was leading it as a club ride but starting later in the morning, too late for me on a hot day -- even with many miles shaded by trees, the ones at the end were too exposed. As luck would have it someone else needed to start early due to having plans that afternoon, so three of us joined her at 8 am. Despite the early start I still had heat rash on my legs (probably related in part to a flare up of hives that I've been dealing with).
Then I had to postpone last week's Wednesday hill ride due to the threat of storms. There was a chance I'd be able to avoid the rain but I've just become too risk-averse when it comes to summer storms with the possibility of lightning, wind and/or heavy rain. As it turned out, it didn't rain at home but there was a pop-up storm a few miles away where I would have been riding. We had the same storm chance on Thursday, so I went to the gym that night and finally did the hill ride after work on Friday. It was uneventful except for one on-the-fly decision to change the route slightly -- the road I chose to explore ended up being a very steep hill. With every pedal stroke I considered stopping and turning around, but I did make it to the top (with tired legs and on the verge of wheezing).
- Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
- Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
- Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle
Gone but not forgotten:
- Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
- Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles