50 mi. I think minus the impending nature of an upcoming race, cycling on Sundays, even in the wind is fun for me. I like riding, I feel the pull of trying to be strong even into the wind, it’s good training. Even if I wasn’t training for a specific event, I do like riding. I left Loggerhead Park today with Austin at 6:30am. He’s back after an extended layoff, and I’m happy to make 50 miles a good Sunday workout. If I had time I wanted to run after – depending on how warm it was and what i thought might be waiting for me at home.
We rode slow (17mph) along the beach road, then made a good effort to stay next to each other on Jupiter Island. We kept the speed at a commfortable 20-21, good enough for riding side by side in aerobars. I stopped quick at Hobe Sound beach to pee and get the picture you see here, the sun screaming out from behind clouds. To focus the iphone on the available light, you get this sunburst look or the beach features well defined and no real definition on the sky or clouds. It’s not really what your eyes are seeing when you look at the horizon. A better camera would capture the scene more accurately. We went up through Gomez Road, then really inclreased speed noticeably on Old Dixie Hwy. Over the tracks, and to Port Salerno, we had some tailwind but we were working hard to keep a good pace. We didn’t stop long at the Sandsprit bathrooms, a quick drink, wipe of the forehead (since I left the headband at home) and we were back riding. MOst friends left earlier to do 70 miles, so we wouldn’t see them now or at the end either. The way back was breezy in the face, but I wanted to pull at 20+ to make it a good workout. We picked up two road cyclists after Bridge Road. They were stopping at the new Stop sign on the beach road. We saw police there, at Bridge Rd, at the fork in the road and at Coral Cove Park. Plenty of fall season enforcement ahead. The cyclist guys said they spoke to the police, it’s a $93 ticket for going through the stop sign on a bike. Not me! Coming back I stayed at pace with those two guys to the drawbridge. Austin became dehydrated with just one water bottle and fell back from Blowing Rocks preserve. I found and spoke with Carolyn at the US-1 light, over the second drawbridge and then I waited for Austin at a marina parking lot. We came back into the breeze along Jupiter beach and found Loggerhead Park mostly empty of retruning riders – as stated, I think most people went further and planned on being out there longer today. No such training need for me, I am glad to be able to de-stress over how far, how much and “by when.” My next race is all trail running. I can increase mileage week by week early before it gets too hot. Nice!
drun4fun 