Not even the 20-25mph headwind could spoil my joy. I started off right into it. The temperature made it down into the upper 60s last night, and our forecast high for today is only 90. North Texas residents are walking around with grins on their faces today.
I took a series of back roads up to Gainesville this morning. Riding into the wind, but not fighting it. I enjoyed watching the wide open spaces roll slowly by, but anticipated the exhilaration of a good strong tailwind at the turnaround point in my loop. Got a new high speed mark for the MAP today.
The forecast low temperature for tomorrow morning is 55. Wow. I think I'll get up early, pack some coffee, and ride out to a nice spot and enjoy the refreshment. Just the thing before meeting with other local christians on a lovely Sunday morning where we can collectively give thanks to God.
In the comments after my last post, Scott (Herringbone) mentioned wood bridges. We don't have many of those down here, but they never fail to capture my interest. In contrast to the old one-laner shown in my last post, today's bridge is modern, wide, and includes a steel truss. I like to slow down when I ride across this one.
I was finally able to get the tire properly seated in the rim on the MAP, and enjoyed a couple of hours out on the geared bike this morning. So it was another day, another bike, and another bridge.
There are long stretches with no shade, and I was a little intimidated by the forecast. It was quite a workout, but it worked out just fine. Great ride.
I wanted to try a route that added some new roads. After my flat tire a couple of weeks ago, I seem to have mounted my rear tire off-center (yes, Hetre on Velocity rim) and I was too lazy to fix it last night. So I rolled the Quickbeam today.
Turns out the the new roads are excellent. But there was enough climbing on this hot summer day to motivate me to get that tire/rim thing resolved...soon.
I like these old one lane steel truss bridges. I think I'll come back by this one again. Maybe next time with more gears.
Inspired by a blog buddy, I finally took steps to tidy-up the saddlebag. My relatively weighty tool roll tended to end up at the bottom center of my bag, causing a distorting sag and a bit of sway during standing climbs. It was oddly always in the way while trying to access things that are used more frequently. Remembering that I saw Bike Tinker attach his minipump to his bag's support bar, I grabbed a toe strap and cinched it up. Tidy, stable, and out of the way. So far so good.
Now I need to give some thought to the sometimes rattle-y handlebar bag.
