These are not good days for biking. There's heat advisories flying around and they're letting the kids out of school early. It's balls hot out. Today's ride was more strategic than anything. The last few days I've been doing this bad thing where I come home from work and, because I've been so wiped out lately, I plant myself on the couch and watch TV under the whirry whir of the ol' ceiling fan. At some point at around 7 or so I think to myself, "hey, wouldn't it be much more comfortable if i got prone on the couch?" and boom, it's over. I wake up on the couch at 10, my hopes of falling back to sleep anytime before 3 a.m. dashed. I've been poorly rested and likely poorly nourished.
So today the plan was: Get home, put laundry in, get on the bike, thus ensuring that by the time i get home, shower and eat dinner, it'll be time to pass out for good for the night.
Hopped on the Trek 1200 at around 7 p.m. (I refuse to name my bike, in much the same way I refuse to name my car; I'm hoping this reduces the chance of them developing wills of their own.) The Schuylkill River Park path was free of stinking trains, and I made good time out to the art museum, though, admittedly, I wasn't feeling particularly loose today. There was some sort of walk/run finishing up on Kelly Drive today which made getting from the museum to the Falls Bridge a little hairy and, to be honest, by the time I got to the bridge, I was feeling a little like turning around right there. But I persevered. Past the bridge I was hissed at by a pair of geese who didn't seem to want to move out of the path, which I guess beats getting hissed at by motorists.
The ride out to Green Lane was largely uneventful, save for a near wipe-out flying down the hill past the Manayunk UA. On the downhill there is a slight bend as the grade levels out and then picks up toward the Main Street strip, and I was being followed closely by a truck of some sort. As a result, rather than rounding the bend, I had to stay on the inside of the white line where some silty sediment had collected. Felt my wheels slide out from under me briefly, which put the fear of something in me as I righted myself.
After a brief stop at Green Lane I turned around and found myself behind what I'm assuming was some sort of cycling club, so I tagged along figuring they'd be good to draft off of. Except that they were going sooooo slow -- like 19mph on Kelly Drive. I sat at the back of the pack, wanting to sprint past, but fearful that maybe this is how the whole peleton thing works in the Tours de Whatever. I'd sprint around, they'd gobble me up and maybe laugh. So I kept pace, waiting at the back of the pack, wondering if I dared make my move. Thankfully, they split off toward MLK Drive at the bridge and I rocketed past them, opting for the Kelly Drive path, where I again found myself stuck behind three cyclists decked out in fancy shorts and jerseys going too slow for my taste. So I turned on the burners, blowing past them at 23mph, hoping that they wouldn't catch up to me later. (Thankfully, they did not.)
Got home, showered, then walked to the 7-Eleven in search of a Slurpee only to discover that all the Slurpees were not yet Slurpee-ready. So I picked up a tall-boy can of Arizona green tea which, in retrospect, isn't going to help me sleep tonight: 18.91 miles, 1:09:73, 16.271 mph, top speed 26 mph.
p.s.: I'm presently preemtively icing myself. Also, strapping on an icepack feels good on a day like today.
Today's song: Milkcrate Mosh -- The Hold Steady
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