It was a dark and foggy morning …

Nope, didn’t ride yesterday.  Tuesday night when I went to bed I remember thinking that I would decide about a Wednesday morning ride when the alarm went off.  It went off.  I stood up, blinked twice, and crawled back into bed.  It was just like that.

This morning was different.  The alarm went off and I rolled into my morning routine without giving it a second thought.  Soon I was out the door into a warm and very foggy morning.  I’m very fatigued from long days at work this week, and so I decided to take it easy.  I made a grand loop to the Rusty Bridge and met up with others who all had close calls with walkers in the dark fog.  I had only one encounter on the way to the bridge.  I saw him when I was about 20 feet away but we were both respecting our side of the trail and there was no incident.  He had no lights, no reflective gear, and was as silent as a ghost.

The foggy conditions kept our speed down for a time.  As we moved south, the fog seemed to thin some and overall the speed started to move up.  At one point our ride was disturbed by an animal cry.  It wouldn’t surprise me if it turned out to be a fox grabbing a rabbit.  We went into Round Bay to climb Asquithview and although I can clearly notice my increased fitness, it was there and the following climb on Old County where the peloton simply began moving away.  Mike was content to ride with me, and we took it easy, engaged in conversation and watching the pavement pass by.  This kind of steady pace with the heart rate in a very comfortable place is the goal for the Flèche.

The ride this morning required frequent wipes of the glasses.  It was amazing how easy it was to see after the mist was removed from the lenses.  I could tell each time Mike cleaned his because his speed increased slightly.  There were times that it was hard to see the pavement far enough ahead to avoid potholes.  We relied mostly on knowing where they were and what “line” we needed to follow on each particular section of the ride to avoid them.  Worst was when oncoming car headlights illuminated not only the fog but the thousands of droplets on the lenses, blinding us for a moment.  Then there was the one driver who switched from high beams to dim as we approached, then switched back to high while we were still in front of him.  If I would have closed my eyes and ridden for a few hundred feet, I might have seen as much.

I ended the morning with 26 miles and Lori was surprised to see me come in that quick.  I wanted to ride more, but I also wanted to see her off for work.  It was at arms length.  She said I was particularly odoriferous this morning.

I’ve got a decision to make for tomorrow.  Do I ride the fixie and do as many miles as I reasonably can?  Do I ride the Kona and attempt 100-125 miles?  My planned training regimen for the Flèche has me scheduled for a long ride.  I’ve got two Fridays for longer rides left and two Fridays where that won’t be possible.  Those long solo rides are not very appealing to me right now.  Stay tuned for the decision.

This Ride: 26.2 miles
Month: 447.4 miles
2012: 722.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 14,576.5 miles