chewiness.

sunny. 53˚. perfect riding weather. started out a little cold but soon warmed up to a perfect temperature. warmish in the sun and coldish in the shade. ah... i'll enjoy this for a few weeks before it just starts getting cold.

they finally finished paving the chewiest part of my ride to work. for the past few months it's been a minefield of pot holes and cracks, broken glass and gravel. last week they came through with the machine that eats off the top layer of asphalt and leaves grooved pavement in its wake... which makes for a nice ride on a cannondale. it would appear that last night they finished [for the most part] paving everything over and it's buttery smooth now. except for a few drains that have yet to be finished it has become one of the more pleasant sections of my ride... so far as pavement quality is concerned.

good ride.

muggish.

today was the first ride home from work that i got caught out in the dark. i did pack a blinky light and a neon-green vest so i wasn't too worried about it. despite the mugginess it definitely reminded me that winter is coming. a good 6 months out of the year where pretty much all of the riding i'll get to do will be in complete darkness. it's not all bad, though, it just makes me appreciate the daylight in the spring and summer that much more.

plus, on my way home i found a visibility vest tossed off on the side of the road. it was a large so it clearly won't fit me, but it occurred to me it would be perfect for motorcycle use... since i ride as late into the year as i can. a few months ago me and a buddy headed out to providence and on the way back he said, "man, at night you disappear... and i mean completely disappear". that certainly was an eye-opener so this vest will work well over my leathers. score.

achilles ankle.

early last week i had a senior moment whilst exiting a house. there were a few steps leading from the kitchen to the driveway made of the unfinished planks you'd find on any deck or porch. what appeared to be 2 steps in the dark was actually 3 and i rolled my ankle hard and went down like a ton of bricks with an old ford pick-up and a puddle to break my fall. needless to say i didn't ride for the better part of a week. today was the first day in the saddle since and my ankle felt good. a little sore in some spots but the pedaling motion certainly didn't irritate anything. it was nice to ride again.

today, however, my brian was racing a mile a minute while i pedaled at 15mph. i just couldn't focus or relax. my thoughts were scattered and random. i suppose it will happen every now and again, but i hate being cheated from something that is supposed to be fun and relaxing. i have the rest of my day to be stressed it shouldn't carry over into riding time. oh well... i still need to ride home, maybe that will be different.

river road.

today was a good day to ride indeed. i woke up extra early to make the commute out to a job in clinton, which google maps tells me is 25.0 miles. perfect. i stuck to rt. 80 for most of the way, as i am wont to do. in madison i turned off onto summer hill which started the last leg of my ride on some of the nicest roads around. country. scenic. quaint. i could not have been happier this morning.

when i left the house it was chilly and i even wore arm warmers... what a nice feeling. as i got closer to my destination it hadn't warmed up all too much, though it was warm enough that i had stowed my arm warmers. on the back roads i think a total of 3 cars passed me in either direction which left me to enjoy the sounds of the woods.

you may wonder what's with all the photos of bridges? well, turns out bridges are quaint, that's why.

river road is one of my favorites around. it has pretty much everything you could want in a road. it comes highly recommended.