Here's what I think about today...

What a ride. I left work a little early after coming in a lot early and hit the gravel, southbound. See tomorrow we were goona hit the Jamaica Trail, but someone said it was flooded. And you know, I needed to investigate. Summary: The Jamaica is not flooded, but you can tell it was. One very jarring ride over surprise ruts proved that to me.

Anyway I headed south to Stagecoach Rd, which according to my pre-ride mapping would put me 12 miles away from work, and a turnaround route would take me 16 miles home - and at 100 for the week. The wind was in my face, but man, it wasn't too bad at all. I told myself I wanted to be there by 4:30, no rush, 12mph average. I arrived, pumped the arms, and stopped. Right there was a perfect spot to rest:

Pulled out the cellphone and it was 4:24pm - sweet! I had figured on a 5 minute stop, but it turned into a nice 15 minute one. Enjoyed standing under the tree for some shade (the ground is still wet from constant recent storms), and guzzling the rest of bottle 1. Then I decided I could easily make it back by 5:30 - 16 miles on very slight rolling hills with a mostly tail but also mostly sidewind. No hammerfest, just a nice ride, I told myself.

Lemme say this, and make it perfectly clear. The Surly Long Haul Trucker is a bike you can get lost on. I love this bike, it just begs for more and more miles as you pedal along, and with the ride it gives you well, you have no problem complying. This same trail on my Trek FX was tolerable, and on the Hardrock was "OK". On the LHT it was comfortable, downright enjoyable as the steel frame and big Continental touring tires took the edge off the gravel, and didn't transmit what used to be my biggest pet peeve about limestone/gravel trails - the constant "buzz".

So I'm at 100 miles for the week, and planning on another 50 tomorrow morning which will easily make my 150 goal for the week. I have some odd shoulder pain so I think I'm going to raise the stem again on the Surly, and see how that helps.

Other than that, great afternoon in the saddle. Days like this remind me that while some things about being in redneck Nebraska get old, being able to get lost in nowhere land in a manner of 20 minutes on a bicycle, well, that's awesome.