Double Back

Everything that was good about riding to work Thursday couldn't have been more different yesterday while riding home. It was hot and windy, with allergens filling the air. My eyes and nose watered. I felt fatigued. My legs weren't exactly sore or tired; I just had no energy. I called down to the engine room and asked for more power, but Scotty was in the bar again.

There were stretches on the bike trail where the wind was hitting me head-on. At times it slowed me quite a bit, and along Lake Natoma I crawled along at a whopping nine miles per hour. I figured I might as well take a picture. It's not like riding with one hand was going to slow me down any more.

I had nothing in the tank on the first few climbs, but when I made it to Dyke 8 where the dirt starts, I felt energized a bit. Singletrack is fun even when you are dying. The scenery helps too.

I took the same basic route home until I left Brown's Ravine. At that point I decided I didn't want to do all the climbing on the "fun" route and took Green Valley Road the rest of the way. It lopped off a few miles and hundreds of feet of climbing. It was such a relief to get home.

I took today off. Tomorrow I will get back out there and log more May miles.

Later.