Almost 17 miles into our ride, we crossed the Connecticut-New York state line. Neither Andrew nor I had ever crossed a state line on bicycle, so that was kind of a cool milestone. It would have been quite a bit cooler if we actually knew where the state line was. On the way back to Connecticut, we saw a sign saying we were entering New Canaan, Connecticut, but I still don't know if this is the state line or not.
Just before the state line and then again just before we turned around, an "experienced gentleman" on a road bike stopped to make sure that we were o.k. (we were just taking a map/Gatorade break). It's nice to see people out there with a sense of community who do look after their fellow bikers. Both this gentleman as well as another guy (this one inside a BMW SUV who rolled down his window at a stoplight) asked me how I liked riding my Sofrider. Maybe we'll start seeing more recumbent bicycles (or even Cruzbikes) out here soon.
The total ride was just over 40 miles and we averaged 12.5 mph.Both of us felt much better at the end of this than at the end of our 32 mile ride last week (where we averaged just under 12 mph). Last weeks ride felt hillier (although we gained more elevation this ride by about 500 feet), but we did a much better job eating as well as we each had a bottle Gatorade. And I did considerably better post ride this time than last week as well. Very promising, indeed.
Like last week most of the ride was on streets that were not empty, but traffic was generally quite reasonable. There were several very nice descents, including a nice long one where I managed to hit 39.5 mph.(!) I almost certainly would have hit 40 mph, except that there was a stop sign at the bottom that I had to stop for. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Again similar to last week, the nice rural scenery is quite nice. On the way up, we saw a humongous wild turkey. We didn't stop to take a picture of it, but last week Andrew saw a turkey on his way into work and did stop and take a picture:
Quite impressive birds, aren't they.
Nice ride and great to see a wild turkey! We saw one wandering around the east side of town (old side) a couple weeks ago too. There are a couple flocks living in the town apparently.
ReplyDeleteSo when is your big ride? I think you'll be fine, especially since you have been riding more lately.
MW
The big ride is May 20th. Our training ride was supposed to be 25 miles and we did 40 and actually felt pretty good afterwards. At this point, the biggest thing I have to do is make sure I take in enough calories while riding and I think I'll be fine. (Andrew has done the NYC century which is 100 miles, so I'm sure he'll do fine as well).
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