A Blustery Ride.......

It seems that the only chance I get to go out and ride these days are on Saturday's. It seems that everything just gets in the way. Sometimes you just have to make the time and do it. A friend of mine that I have not gotten to ride with lately, we'll call him Crash. Though he hasn't had a wreck that I have witnessed in a few years, he has yet to live down that name. I have witnessed, or been victem in two of them, and have heard of at least another. Anyway, he lives on the route I rode last weekend to Las Colinas, and so I thought I would get him out for a ride. I was glad to have somebody to meet at a specific time, because on mornings like this I have a hard time getting up and out. So, after two snoozes and spending a few minutes waking up with my wife, I forced myself to get out of bed an start the morning coffee. Let the dog out and a quick frying of to eggs, bacon, and coffee and I'm dressed and out the door. With cloud cover, the threat of rain, and the temps in the low 50's, I opted to wear the cold weather jacket instead of the arm warmers, since I had been a little chilly on the ride last weekend. A pair of leg warmers completed the ensemble. I was glad to have made that decision as the whole ride stayed in the 50's and a south wind around 15 mph with a few slight gusts. Anyway, I was about 8 min. late to meet Crash, and found him in the parking lot airing up his tires. He had overslept and hadn't had anything to eat, so we headed to Mickey D's to get him some sustenance for the ride. After a quick break, we were on the road again. We followed the same basic course from last week. A quick trip down to Luna road and turned south. Right before the turn south we met up with a bunch of GDBer's coming out from Preston Forest Shopping Center. Fighting the wind to the south, we wound our way through the lowlands and park areas to Las Colinas. As we reached Hwy 114, we crossed over to explore the Hill Option listed on the ride map. However, after reaching Tom Braniff Blvd, we turned west through the area around the University of Dallas. After turning around once we finally found ourselves at Tom Landry Stadium (aka Texas Stadium for the part-timers) and dodging a turning eighteen wheeler, headed back north on Hwy 114. We took a quick rest at Beltline and Valley Ranch Parkway because Crash also forgot his waterbottles and I needed a pain killer for my aging and constantly aching back. Luna Road brought the fight into the wind back and the uphill climb back to REI took whatever was left in us, out of us. Another 3.2 miles and I was home. I like heading down Midway home, because those idiots that just have to pass me rushing up to the light usually have me looking in their rearview mirror again whle waiting at the light. I generally leave whatever strength I have left on the road on that short ride home and cruise at about 22+ mph, even into the wind. It's nice to see them look with wonder that I caught them at the light. The numbers were not quite as good as I would have liked, but against a stiff wind, I guess I'll take them. Time: 3:15:31 Distance: 51:00 miles (even, kinda strange when that happens) Max: 32.5 mph Average: 15.6 mph