Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Last evening I was preparing myself for a rain day and commuting by car. But it was clear this morning, and the weather radar showed that the storms had bypassed Dayton further to the north. Our only storm effects were higher winds from the southwest that apparently worked to move the wet clouds away from Dayton. So I set out for a bike-commute after eating breakfast, which I had started before I checked the weather.
Thanks to the fast southwest winds, the second leg of my commute was extremely fast today. With almost no exertion, my cadence reached 104 rpm and speed 25.3 mph on the Great Miami and Mad River bikeways. In the remaining parts of the ride, I had good speeds in the sheltered areas, but slower going on the open stretches of the Creekside and Iron Horse trails.
After I crossed Linden, I saw Millie and Gladys up ahead. I slowed to a stop as I reached them. Millie had a new perm, and her freshly colored hair was under a fine net. We joked about the likelihood of a hot date in her future, and I kidded Gladys that I could make an approintment for here to get a tight perm too. I asked them if they often stopped to talk to some of the regular walkers, and they named a few that they shared conversation with. Then Paul jogged by, this time without his dogs, and I said goodby to Millie and Gladys.
I pulled beside Paul to ask about his dogs, whom he said had walked earlier with him, on their usual course about 2.5 miles around the circle of the bikeway and Woodman Avenue. Paul walks his dogs daily, starting on the bikeway because of its convenience to his home to the west of the bikeway and north of Woodbine.
Once again on the way, near Woodman I saw a woman on her bike with a small dog running beside her. The bike had an extension off to the right that held the dog's lead, and the dog had some sort of harness. "Nice setup for both of you," I said as I passed them.
Ride conditions
Temperature: 75 to 79°F at 09:30
Precipitation: none
Winds: 10 to 15 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:41:34 for 11.92 miles
Heart rate: 129 bpm HRave, 149 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 5 cyclists, 9 pedestrians, 3 dogs
Playback of the ride
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