Holly had a Sunday morning plan. We’d rise early and head for the Metroparks to walk before church. Sounded good, until I woke to the racket of another raging thunderstorm. She cruised past the alarm, but did manage to get me out for a hike around the block after the rain stopped.
My concern was that Mimi’s creek might have jumped the bank again and undone all my engineering and sweat from the previous day. I would find in an email later that my dyke had held and the creek was still within its banks. The Army Corps of Engineers would be proud.
The temperatures were again climbing towards the 70’s and the roads were drying quickly. I had the afternoon for riding before I would be expected to re-grout the shower…it needed extra time to dry I had explained…and planned to use every minute for a long ride.
My plan was to go on my 54-mile ride out to Middlefield via Pekin and Butternut Roads. It’s typically a route with very little traffic…cars or bikes…and provides the serenity I crave with the challenges of some good climbs and much rolling terrain. I just wanted to ride…not race…and I went out at a moderate pace and decided to hold it there. If I felt good, I could always come back hard.
It was ideal riding weather. There was a wind coming out of the south and blowing pretty strongly, but most of my ride was east/west and would have little effect and be at my back on the return. I reached my destination with apparent ease and, looking at my watch, figured I still had plenty of time to extend the ride before family dinner…so I kept going.
I crossed over State Route 608 on Windsor/Chardon Road, which seems to be the dividing line for Amish country. There are some Amish farms before this intersection, but east of it seems to be made up almost wholly of this fascinating community. I saw more buggies than cars over the next several miles and received friendly waves from the occupants. I had to swerve to avoid a large snapping turtle moving slowly across the road to a pond on the other side and piles of horse manure, but seldom had to leave the middle of the road for automobile traffic. If I hadn’t already traveled 30 miles, I would have ridden deeper into the community, but I knew I was reaching the limits…since I was only half way…of what my body was ready to do.
The ride back home was not so much tiring as it was painful from an aching neck and shoulders. I reached home almost four hours after leaving, having ridden over sixty miles for the first time in probably 15 years. I had no doubt that I could cover that distance and more, but always seemed to get to around fifty and turned around. It makes me want to ride another century (100 miles), something I haven’t done since my trip to Columbus by bike in the early 90’s. Though the discomfort in the shoulders is great, it’s worth the effort. Maybe later this summer.
We had a dinner of baked spaghetti…a wonderful meal loaded with bacon and cheese…which we followed with a trip to our neighbor’s extended St. Patrick’s Day party and more eating. She makes wonderful soda bread and had a crock pot full of corned beef and the only polite thing to do was to have some of both. Besides, I’d ridden four hours…right?
Bike Duration: Three hours and 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 3200.
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