Felt sorta like a breakthrough day for me today. Got up at the crack of dawn (not) and did the cyco-commute to work. A bit chillier than I expected, so I ended up in long tights, wind jacket, long gloves, beanie, etc. Dropped down beer hill then hit Mt Herman Road. Warmed up over to Dirty Woman Park, crossed the tracks, and hit Old Denver Highway. Felt pretty good, so I started pushing the pace, which lasted all the way to work. So, 18.5 miles at more than 15mph. Good stuff, considering most of it is on dirt/gravel.
When I left for the ride home in the evening, I was surprised by the ominous dark clouds and light rain. Ugh, nearly 2 hours in the rain would suck! So, I took off into a headwind with hypothermia in the back of my mind. Soon, the headwind turned into a tailwind and the miles dropped away. The rain never materialized, either!
Pretty much the only time in my life that I've had a headwind reverse to my advantage on the Sante Fe Trail. My normal expectation is that I have a headwind in the morning, the wind reverses while I'm at work, and I have a headwind on the way home...
My legs could definitely feel the mornings effort, but they were not toasted. The return trip took more than 30 minutes longer, due to the lower effort, higher fatigue and general uphill trend.
Overall, 37.2 miles and 2230 feet of climbing. Good stuff.
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