SpringfieldCyclist.com

By the time I got to work yesterday, I could tell that I was noticeably tired, so I did an easy spin home last night.  I got up this morning determined that I would try to save something for tomorrow, so I wasn’t particularly interested in riding hard today.

As I walked out of the garage, I was shocked to see a flash of lightening off to the Northeast.  Looking due east, I could see stars in the sky so I figured I was safe for a while.  If it looked like rain was getting closer, I figured I could always just finish when I got back to the house and drive in to work.

As I headed toward Logan-Rogersville, I notice that the lightening was pretty active, and seemed to be spreading west as the dawn progressed, but there was no thunder so I suspected I was going to stay dry.  As I completed the loop around the school and turned back to the west, I had a little bit of a southwest wind pushing my home, convincing me that this storm couldn’t possibly be heading my way. 

By the time I got home after 20 miles, the wind seemed to have calmed, and there was light enough to see very dark gray clouds building to the northwest, but it was still dry so I grabbed my bag and headed off, still with my lilght and blinkie going. 

Just as I pulled up at the light at National and Central, a pretty strong wind kicked up from the northwest, so I knew it was getting close, but at that point, so was I.  I heard the first bit of thunder as I was wheeling into the courtyard at work, and by the time I got out of the shower, it was raining pretty good.  I just barely made it under the wire.

I knew it was inevitable that it was going to rain today….I cleaned up the bike last night!  I can’t complain, though.  I made it to work dry, and my yard needs it pretty bad!

God bless….

TW

Today wasn’t supposed to be a cycling day, but we got lazy.  Instead of getting up early to go lift weights, Pam and I spent an extra hour and fifteen minutes snuggling.  When we did finally roll out, I realized I had time for a bike commute, so I quickly repacked my clothes and lunch and headed out for an uneventful commute across town to work.

The last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to ease into my fall running routine by running with the guys at lunch on the days I lift weights.  Riding to work screwed up that plan since I didn’t have any gym clothes or running shoes, so what the heck…why not just ride the bike at lunch.  I decided I would resurrect the lunchtime ride out past Hillcrest and get in 10 miles.  Little did I expect that the road construction that shut me down earlier in the year would still have the road closed.  I could get as far as Hillcrest, but no further.

Instead, I turned back and went west on Norton Road past the zoo and then headed North on old Kansas for a while.  I tried to judge my turnaround to give me 10 miles, but I turned about a quarter mile short and ended up with 9.56 miles.  It wasn’t a bad ride, but there was a little more traffic than if I could have continued North out into the county.

I keep thinking it’s time to put new tires on the OCR.  The ones on there were installed before BAK last year, and really look like crud.  They’re all beat up, with lots of cuts on the tread and sidewalls.  I’m expecting any day now to start having flats, but I haven’t yet so that makes it hard to pull the trigger on a new set.

Edit…..

I had a bit of a scare on the way home from work.  I was tooling south on Barnes about 20 mph, doing a good job of riding the edge of the roadway.  A van came up behind me and held back, not wanting to pass because there was a car coming  from the other direction, not real close, but close enough that he doesn’t want to go around.  All of a sudden, I hear the roar of an engine, and in my mirror I see a pickup that has pulled out to pass the van.  The van see’s what’s happening and with the car approaching, slams on his brakes, locking them up.  I see if I have room to bail out to the right side of the road, but before I can act, the pickup passes me and swerves back into the right lane to avoid the oncoming car.  He cleared me, but I was sure afraid he wouldn’t.  As he sped off into the distance, I raised my hand to him (No, not my finger!) in the guesture that I use to ask “What the crap are you doing, you idiot?”.

God bless…

TW