Inching up on 20,000

I’m amazed at how my definition of a “perfect day for a ride” has changed over these past 3 years.

Three years ago, this morning would have been a day to stay inside.

This morning, when I saw the conditions, I determined it to be a perfect day to ride.  It was.

The temperature was 49° F, with heavy overcast, fog, was that some drizzle, and wet roads.  It was dark.  When are you going to have these conditions in Maryland in January?  It seems that no one else thought it was the perfect day for a ride.  I was alone at the Rusty Bridge and set off at 5:45 for what I believed would be a nice solo ride.

Since I was the only one out for this “group ride”, I changed it up just a little.  I chose to ride into Round Bay and climb Askewton on my fixie.  As I traveled up Old County Road, I encountered all sorts of flashing lights.  The road was closed while utility workers changed out a pole.  The police officer turned me around and I made my way back to the trail at the end of Old County Road.  Lost in my thoughts, I simply pedaled and rode into the darkness.  I had hoped Dan would be out on his steps and we could chat a bit.  He wasn’t there.  Near the very end of the trail, I saw a bike light, and as we met, I called out my name, and Chip responded!  We linked up so that now I had a partner and we traversed our way back home.

I was still feeling strong and wanted a few miles more, so after sending my wife off to work, I climbed back on the bike and did a couple of 3 mile loops near my home to end the day with 30 miles.  I could have gone many, many more this morning, but decided that I needed to use the time for my other obligations today.  There have been a few days recently that I’ve felt like I could have just continued riding for hundreds of more miles.  A fantasy is to get on the bike and see how long I go before I decide to stop for some rest.

It wasn’t until I got home and logged my ride that I realized that my next ride will probably be the one to put me over 20,000 miles.  It will only take 20.3 miles to do it.  Then, the next big mileage milestone will happen less than 5,000 miles later, as I complete the distance around the earth.

Chip has got me thinking about training and qualifying to ride a 1200k.  As we talked about it this morning, it is possible I could accomplish that next year.  This year, with a planned vacation in April, I think I’d be hard-pressed to qualify.  Qualifying requires an SR-Series, a 200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k.  The 600k is the one that would jam me up.  I also would need a lot more base miles.  Anyway, it is something to consider.

This Morning’s Ride: 30.1 miles
Month: 206.8 miles
2013: 206.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 19,979.7 miles