Which way is the beach? THAAAT way! Sometimes I have problems summarizing a killer ride, and today is one of those. 55 miles of gravel, pavement, bike path, highways, byways and amazing views. South Lincoln to Branched Oak via gravel, Branched Oak to Malcom to Lincoln via highway on two heavy, comfortable bikes with enough water for the 5th army. Mocha in downtown Lincoln. Epic epic epic.
I think that hits it.
It's amazing how awesome a ride on gravel can be, seriously. It's just you, the bike, the road, and nature. Every once in awile you'll come upon a person, a dog, or a house - but not much. No dodging pedestrians, cars, or ninja dog leashes. Just.. the road. I'm glad I discovered it, my cycling drug that is known as gravel. Highways are OK, paths are good, limestone is awesome - but gravel, well, that's where it's at. The hills, they look painful, horrible and downright discouraging but when you beat 'em you can let out a HAH!
Yeah, it was a good ride. Conditions were perfect, it was overcast and probably in the mid 70's or lower. A tailwind would have been nice as the headwind on the way out was a bit of a bummer, but it kept the pace moderate and the legs fresh. I say this, of course, to attempt to break the Curse of the Double Headwind. We will never again refer to this.
On that note, I somehow manged to put TWO big holes right through the tread (and Kevlar!) on my rear Marathon cross. Only thing I can figure is that I rolled over one of those police spike strips or something.. heh.. but yeah, kinda a bummer. Oly, however, being my hero (hah, told you I'd do it!) let me know that he had just ordered a new Marathon Cross that was waiting at MWC, and I could have it if I wanted. Sweet! No having to ride around for a week with a duck taped tire, got a new one in the garage right now, ready to go. Right on!
Like I said, something about this ride today. Had a mocha at Crescent Moon, probably the best one I've ever had - ever. Seriously.
Anyway, rockin' way to start the weekend - gotta love it. I recently picked up an iPhone and have been playing with some of the apps that use the internal GPS for tracking - they're awesome! Downside is that they suck the battery hardcore - all of them. Here's the track to Malcom:
It is, of course, pretty overkill to use a iPhone to track a ride. But I also clipped that pic using 64bit Photoshop CS4. I kinda like my overkill.
Great ride, great day so far. If the rest of the week is anything like today.. well.. I can't wait.
