We had a nice -- if chilly -- ride last Wednesday.
The weather was fantastic later in the day, so we decided to leave at dawn. The temperature actually dropped during the first part of our ride. It was so cold I had to wear socks AND toe covers on my sandals. Also, we had a head wind coming home, which was not predicted by our Meteorologist.
When we got to the park, our usual parking spot was taken. So we parked on nearby private property. We met a talkative lady walking her dog who gave us permission to park there. She had no connection with that property other than living nearby, but we took her word for it and left the cars.
Don's had some unexplained problems with his heart -- seemingly random arrhythmia. On this day, however, he was strong and healthy, and we rode to our late breakfast in Sand Lake at a leisurely pace befitting the first ride of the year. Well, there was one of us with the time, money and inclination who rode a few hundred practice miles in Florida, but for Don and I it was the first ride of the year.
Vic and I hadn't had a chance to talk much since September. (And although he did not bring it up, I owe him a dinner because U of M couldn't win another game). Usually I ask him something technical about electronics and then ride without having to talk for a while, but this time he turned the tables and asked me some coding advice.
It turns out that Vic and I are both on diets, and poor Don had to ignore two engineers debate the caloric content of eggs, cinnamon rolls, etc. We both have fairly retentive ways of documenting and budgeting our food (he's using a spreadsheet, I'm using "LoseIt" on my IPOD Touch), and that topic of conversation never gets old. Well, no one else wants to hear it.
And while I'm on the subject, the cinnamon rolls at the restaurant are to die for. I won't discuss the caloric content, but it is a huge mass of empty calories.
After breakfast we zoomed back: Rocket Don shows up after meals. The weather warmed up and we could take off jackets and heavy gloves. The headwind wasn't very strong -- just enough to notice.
4:20 on the bike, 48 miles ridden.
