Easter Monday Day Off

This Ride: 43.5 miles
Month: 509.1 miles
2011: 1,992.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 8,112.5 miles

I have the Monday after Easter as a holiday each year.

I woke up at 4:00 am with light rain falling. I checked the radar, and it looked as though the rain would continue until about 6 or 7 am, so I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. No Mosey Monday for me, although the temperatures were reasonable for a ride in the rain.  I knew I didn’t have to ride in the rain with the day off.  Lori and I have plans to meet one of her friends after work, so I offered to take her to work and pick her up so we have only one car to shuttle at the end of the day.  Along the way we saw Mike B on his commute north to work and shouted out a greeting.  Returning home, it took me a little while to get ready … then it was off for an ever-changing ride.

My initial goal was to document in photographs some of the places I often reference in this blog.  So with an easy pace, I set out to ride the trail, and some of our normal morning route.  I often talk about Round Bay.  Here is a photo of one of the pretty places where we often get to see the sunrise.

Looking at the Severn River from Severn River Road in Round Bay

Then, shortly after this, is the hill in Round Bay (Askewton Road).  It continues upward after the curve to the right, barely visible in the photo.

This hill climbs up from the Severn River and ranges between 11-14% grade.

After this, the camera wouldn’t turn on … so I abandoned the photo tour.  No longer taking photos, I gradually picked up the pace.  Originally, I was intending to keep my heart rate below 135, but soon the beautiful morning and the wind across my face pushed me faster and faster.  I had a good ride to Sandy Point, where I did not stop except to give directions to a woman who was determined to spend time on the beach this morning.  I crossed highway 50, dodged tree cutting crews, and then made my way to St. Margaret Road.  I was cautious approaching the bridge because the threshold was awful the last time I rode this route, but it had been fixed.  Soon I was crossing the Naval Academy Bridge with the decision made to make my way back home via Veteran’s Highway.  It was relatively uneventful.  I did get up to 40.2 mph on one hill.  I’ll either need longer hills or to pedal hard downhill to break my speed record.  I made my way to East West Highway, then through Kinder Park and back home.  The bank thermometer read 84 degrees, but I think it was closer to upper seventies to around 80.

It was a nice ride.  Around mile 40 I needed a little nutrition.  My intent was to ride long enough to see just when my body began to really need something extra.  Fluid intake was good.  I went through about 1.5 bottles of water.

I’m looking forward to probably 2 rides tomorrow (5:45 am and Pizza Ride less than 12 hours later).  I’m also excited that the current forecast for our Ocean City ride on Saturday is absolutely perfect.

Oh yes, I got my cadence sensor working again.  It was nice to have it on this ride.