Last Saturday I headed out for my long September ride. I really wished I was in shape to ride up to Cripple Creek since the aspen are turned now. Up to Cripple Creek and back hurts even when I’m in shape.
Instead I did the Ellicott/Hanover loop. It’s a ride I do in the winter since it stays low and is generally warmer. It’s certainly not what I call scenic.
Normally I go down to Fountain, go out to Hanover and then ride up to Ellicott. This time I did it in the opposite direction since possible rain showers were forecast for the afternoon there’s no place to get shelter between Hanover and Ellicott and from Ellicott back into town.
It turned out I only got a few rain drops so rain wasn’t a factor. My choice of direction left me battling a fierce headwind up to 65 mph the whole way down the Peyton highway where there’s absolutely nothing to block it. From that point it would have been better to go my normal direction. Although if I had gone my normal direction, I may have been breathing smoke from a grass fire that broke out around Squirrel Creek when a hay truck caught on fire. I saw the plume of smoke when I looked back at one point but I hadn’t seen anything when I went through that area.
The last part of my ride was to pick my girls up. I rode 7 miles with an empty trailer and 7 miles with them in it. Even with it empty, it’s noticeable that it’s more work. With both of them in it, I think it’s close to 90 lbs so I really feel it.
I felt much better than I did on my long August Ride but was slightly slower even before I picked the girls up. I think it was because of the wind. I was out in the open when I had a headwind and cross wind and was more protected by trees when I did have a tailwind. Once I picked up the trailer, my average speed dropped even more.
Once didn’t get a full 100 miles in but I got in the required 90 miles to count toward the UMCA Year Rounder. I got in 92.2 miles with 27.17 feet of climbing. It took me 7:09 of ride time.
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