Now That Was Fun!

June is a complicated month.  With RAAM less than 3 weeks away, I still needed to get a 200k ridden to keep this 4th R-12 streak going.  June’s 200k would be number 10 in this R-12 attempt.

Between work and preparations for RAAM, there were only 2 days on the calendar that a 200k was possible.  June 2 and June 5.  Both days had forecasted rain, so I grabbed Tuesday and decided to ride.  The forecast said rain, 60 degrees, and relatively light wind.

The reality was a little different.

The wind peaked at about 10 mph.  The temps got to about 55 and as low as 50.  The rain was over the first 1/3 of the ride and the last 1/4.  I had some headwinds, some tailwinds, and a lot of crosswinds.

My goal initially was to simply enjoy the ride, but with the weather, I decided to push it after the first 30 miles or so.  I rode solo.  I was alone with my thoughts, which for some silly reason were all concentrated on RAAM.

Wildlife seen: A deer that was nearly clipped by a semi first, then nearly clipped by me as it ran across the road, three wild turkeys, a momma cat with 2 kittens in tow out in the middle of nowhere, and a lot of dead bullfrogs, black snakes, and birds.

Incidents or near misses: Except for the deer, none. Drivers were very courteous today.

1.3 miles from the finish I ran over a roofing nail with my rear tire.  It went through the tread and out the sidewall.  It wasn’t hard to find the source of the flat.  That repair took about 15 minutes (pump, not CO2).

I’m very pleased that when I passed the 200k mark on this 212k ride my elapsed time was 7:34.  I was chasing an 8:00 to 8:05 time for the 212k when I got the flat.  As it was, an 8:22 elapsed time for 212k was pretty good.