Today was The Day I was supposed to deliver our crippled RV to the shop for engine extraction and replacement.... I figured that would take up the morning and part of the afternoon, precluding a bike ride.
However, after calling the Repair Guy, he informed me he wanted it delivered later this afternoon instead of earlier and did not yet want the engine delivered. So I saddled up and went for a ride instead.
Wanting to get in at least a 20-miler I opted to ride to Edgewood since that is around 11 miles one-way, thus theoretically resulting in a 20+ miler if ridden out and back.
What a great day for it. Sunny and only mild breezes, which were running backwards from their normal direction.... east to west. Which today meant mild headwinds going eastbound and, if lucky, at least mild tailwinds for the westbound returning trip.
I suspected the winds would reverse course early in the afternoon, which they commonly do, giving rise to the infamous cycling gripe of dealing with headwinds coming and going; both directions.
This wonderful day, however, the temperatures never seemed to get overly high and the breezes continued their westerly blowing. So I got at least a mild boost from the wind at my back on my WAY back.
I encountered a few attitudinally-challenged drivers today, which lately has been a bit unusual. I was passed by a large pickup pulling a large flatbed trailer on Dinkle Road just before I got to Edgewood village proper. Dinkle is a 2-lane road with no shoulder but normally has courteous drivers obviously used to seeing the occasional cyclist, and at any rate the traffic has never been crowded. Today, however, as the courteous gentleman in the truck/trailer combo passed me, he pulled way over into the oncoming lane to give me plenty of clearance. An oncoming car topped a small hill in front of us and pulled off the pavement a bit to allow the truck room to navigate back to his legal lane. As the small red car passed me - right after allowing the truck safe passage - he screamed "GET OFF THE ROAD!" out his window. I confess I responded with an Un-Christian retort but I refuse to confess exactly what the precise wording was.
I was shortly thereafterward passed much too closely by some folks who were much too important to slow down and allow the legally mandated 3 or 5 feet of clearance passing a cyclist, while traversing the horrible intersection of State Road 344 as it goes under I-40 at Edgewood. The mandated amount of clearance varies from county to county and different village boundaries but nowhere is it legal to crowd a cyclist by a foot or so.
What goes around comes around, so I suppose if I'd responded to the screamer with a "God Bless You, Dear Soul", instead of my impertinent epithet, perhaps I would have gotten better treatment from subsequent passing motorists. Oh Well. Maybe Next Time
As I passed Rich Ford's car lot in Edgewood I noticed a large shade tent, obviously implanted for the purpose of sheltering display cars, but presently unoccupied. So I wheeled in and parked the bike in the blessed shade and took a water and snack and blood test break. I was thinking about enquiring inside if I could use their bathroom when I noticed a string of porta-potties next to their line of new cars not 50 feet away. So I allowed myself to use these facilities instead.
I noticed I could see the Subway Sandwich Shoppe sign from the Rich Ford parking lot so I rode that short distance for a nice sandwich and soda.
The ride back west on Olde Route 66 was unremarkable, except that not only was it pleasant, but the couple of miles of no shoulder were accomplished without the presence of any dinosaur-powered cars whatsoever with which to crowd my passage.
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| Grrr, No Shoulders on Popular Bike Route |
I finally arrived back home with barely enough time to fire up the RV, empty some valuable junk out of it for its visit to the hospital, and
get it over to the repair shop with a few minutes to spare before they locked the place up for the night. Jacque had been sewing with her buddies north of Edgewood all day, so she just hung around the Smith's Grocery a short while until I called so she could come pick me up and drive me home the same route I'd ridden 30 minutes before on my bike. FUNSTUFF
Ride Started: 11:20 AM Ride Ended: 4:01 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.6 Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp 75 F Highest Temp: 87 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 25.65
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.6 MPH 9.3 MPH 36.9 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
3 hours 53 mins 2 hours 45 mins 1 hour 8 minutes
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