Bicycling in Bloomington

 Sunday, March 23, 2008

Today was my first road ride since early January. I rode a fairly simple ride - to the south end of Old 446, back north on 446 to Swartz Ridge. At the bottom of Swartz Ridge, I rode south to Monroe Lake to see the flooding. It’s high but not the highest I’ve seen it. I turned around and rode up Moore’s Creek and then to the Water Treatment Plant. (My fellow Bloomington bicycling blogger calls it the Water Works ride - a nice Monopoly title.)

I forgot to start the computer (a regular problem for me) when I left but based on a couple observations, I assume the ride was 26-27 miles. It took 1.83 hours. I planned to ride about 1.5 hours, so it was reasonably close. Overall, I felt a little sluggish and didn’t have the “snap” I will have later this year when I get to short uphills, etc.

The temperature was 28^o and it was cloudy when I started. By the time I got home, it was 36^o and sunny. Traffic was light but a little heavier with Easter church traffic than is usual for a Sunday morning.

It seems that 28^o feels much colder in March than it does in November. I dressed warmly and was a little concerned that I was overdressed. I wasn’t. Towards the end, I was warm when riding hard and cool when going downhill. Just about the right balance.

Overall, it was good to get outside again.