92.53 miles in 9:14....average speed...10.0 mph...max speed...20.3...elevation gain...666 ft...descent...1280ft...total trip mileage...1025.43 in 14 consecutive days of riding...total elevation gain... 24,264.
My choices today were a 63 mile ride to Greensburg, or 93 mile ride to Pratt. I had a suspicion that today was going to be the best riding day in the next three, so unless there were unforeseen circumstances, I was going for the 93. I left at 9:00am, thinking that if I could average 10 mph I could make Pratt in 9 hours. Anything less, I was going to pull up in Greensburg. The wind was supposed to be mild, for around here, out of the NNW, which would make it a side wind with maybe a little push for me. Well, that's exactly how it played out. I was right about 10 mph the entire trip, so I went for the long ride. It was a beautiful day, even though it started out a little chilly, about 50 degrees. Everything was fertilized green, the sky was blue, and it was a pleasant ride for the most part. I passed towns about every every ten miles across the entire stretch, some being only grain elevators with a few side businesses, others being real towns with "Main Street"s off to one side or the other. There wasn't much too look at unless you like looking at grain elevators that are eight miles away, and slowly watching them get closer. Highlights included watching a single prop plane put on an "air show" for me but generally swooping around over the alfalfa fields, near irrigation rigs and wind farms, for about a half an hour. One town of note was Greensburg, which was totally destroyed by a tornado sometime around 2008. I saw a feature on it last night on a Wichita TV station, where I saw video of the aftermath. Today was a big day there, because they were opening a movie theater, which would complete the comeback. When I rode through town, I made sure to check out the brand new "Main Street" area, and it was pretty cool, after seeing what the tornado did. The population of the town is about half, but the comeback is complete.
Yesterday I rode 80 miles in six hours with a tailwind. Today, with a neutral wind, I did 80 in 8 hours on my way to 93. It just goes to truly demonstrate that the wind can made hours worth of difference in a days ride, not minutes. The wind is my hormone right now. It makes all the difference in how my day goes, how I feel, my mood, and my outlook on life for each day. It's totally out of my control and I just have to deal with it, for better or for worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment