Wow. The weather was everything I’d hoped it would be. Mayhaps a touch windy, but what’s a little wind on a day set completely aside for getting in the saddle and staying there? I don’t have to be anywhere until later tonight, so I wasn’t in any real rush.
I took off around 10:30 this morning, and started out my standard Lawrence route. As I left, it was in the upper 30’s. A little chilly, but nothing compared to what we’ve seen thus far this year. Yet there was a fella walking in a heavy coat, hat, scarf and thick gloves that stopped and seriously gawked at me as I passed. He stopped moving altogether, turning in place to keep watching me. I have no idea what was so fascinating. Maybe he thought I was crazy. Maybe he’s crazy. Maybe he thought I gave him the Evil Eye and was glaring at me the whole time in an impotent display of manly posturing. I didn’t stop to check.
Leaving him behind, I took Kasold down to Clinton State Parkway, and that out to the north leg of the Southern Lawrence Trafficway trail. There were two cyclists heading the opposite direction on the trail. There was waving. A man and a woman, and they were taking full advantage of the tail wind. I, on the other hand, had plenty of headwind to keep me busy. I looped that, seeing a third cyclists right as he entered and I exited the trail. More waving. I love meeting other cyclists. We’re all so friendly! Then it was out through Clinton State Park. There was still a lot of melting snow on the roads, so I didn’t loop through all the campgrounds, as is my wont, but I did get the benefit of the bigger hills through there (one with a 14° grade). My only wish for that park is that it be bigger. One of these days, I’ll have to check out Shawnee Mission Park. It’s a hop-skip away, and I’ve never ridden it. Once out of the park, I took the dam road south. This was the only point all day that I got chilly. The wind coming across the icy water was *cold*.
Once I got across the dam road, and past N 1200 Rd., I had a decision to make. Do I turn left, heading back through Lawrence and kill the day with a 40 miler? Or do I turn right, take what will be the biggest hill of the day, and take the long roundabout way back to Lawrence for a ~60 miler?
As if there was seriously a choice. Right it was.
Turning right on Iowa/S 59 committed me to the biggest climb of the route. Starting at mile 26, it was almost exclusively uphill for the next 6 miles. Not a tough grade, but it did account for a decent slice of the ride today. It’s nothing compared to the Triple Bypass, but it’s a start. I was pleased with my level of energy when I got to the end o the climbs… though I did take advantage of the Phillips 66 there at the junction of 59 and 460 to fuel up on an egg/cheese/sausage sammich on a croissant, with a side of trail mix.
Heading east on 460 was awesome. With the wind at my back, my motivation rose and I made (what felt like) good time. More than that, the best downhill of the day came with the wind at my back. Bonus! I topped 44mph there with only moderate effort. I’ve now set a goal to hit 50 on that stretch. It’ll happen. Oh yes. It will happen.
The great pace was not to last. Turning north again at 1057 and 460 (about mile 40) put me against the wind again on a surface not quite so smooth, with the added benefit of constant rolling of the hills. All the time pushing against the wind was starting to take its toll… in spite of an Accelerade bottle, I was feeling it, and my pace dropped considerably.
Coming up on K10 was quite a surprise. I didn’t think I’d gone that far east… just goes to show you how much real planning I’d put into this route prior to planting butt on saddle. I really wanted to stop on the K10 overpass and take a couple pics with my camera phone, but the mud and grime on the sides of the bridge were deep and wide. It wasn’t worth funking the shoes and tires up. Maybe I will stop next time when I have a better camera.
From there, it was country roads back into Lawrence. I saw my first and last runner of the day near 15th and Haskell. He looked tired. All he could manage in answer to my wave was a nod. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was about being tired, rather than being rude. Not too far along from him I entered Saturday afternoon traffic, where I saw two more cyclists on Vermont and 8th St. They were younger, and seemed happy to see another cyclist out on the road.
Traffic was heaviest on 6th St. between Mass. and Iowa. I saw my final biker crossing over at 6th and Iowa. He looked more like a guy on a bike than a cyclist. Judging by his appearance and dress, I wouldn’t be surprised if a closer inspection of his bike revealed copious amounts of “bling”. He had a distinct “thug” look about him. I didn’t stop to chat.
That climb from 6th and Mass to 6th and Arizona was the last of the day, and though I knew it was coming, it did take a bit of work to get through it. Have I mentioned the headwind yet? It was still there, and still hitting hard. It was perfectly OK though. Like I said, I don’t have anywhere to be until much later, so I wasn’t in any hurry. As I passed a bank on Iowa, I was caught by their temperature sign that read 58°F. I’m pretty sure direct sunlight had something to do with that reading. It wasn’t 58 out today. Easily 48, but it was not 58.
The only thing that really surprised me about today’s ride was the distinct lack of other athletes out on the road. All in all, there were only 5 real cyclists, and one runner. I expected a deluge of Lawrence Athletes taking up valuable space on the roads and trails. This is, perhaps, the warmest weekend we’ll have for some time, and I thought a lot more people would want to take advantage of it. I expected to have to fight for a place. I expected elbows and shouting and all manner of craziness. Not so much. No idea why that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t too windy; the temperature was quite nice, and yet there were hardly any bodies out in it… go figure.
Here be numbers.
