Feels like summer riding.

It felt like summer here in WI today, high in the 80s, lots of sun and windy! I got out for a 64 mile ride, a nice hard effort, here it is:



I touched 3 counties on my ride (Racine, Milwaukee and Waukesha), could have made a 4th if I'd went west a few more miles! It got HOT fast, and the wind kicked up about mid ride. Especially out around Tichigan Lake, there are some nice rollers and sweeping roads, but I had that SSW headwind as I made my way to Hwy 20 and then Hwy K to head back in. The heat was hard, I've been used to riding in the cold or at least cool temps. Plus, I was riding my alum Trek, it's a heavy bike and transmits all the road noise up my back and into my arms. I'm glad I shipped my CF Giant for the long ride next week. I pushed harder than I wanted to ride today, averaging about 17 mph for the entire ride. I only made 3 stops, and bought a one liter bottle of water at my "lunch" stop. Otherwise, wasn't hungry. I brought a PBH (honey) with, and had a Clif Builder Bar, along with some Poweraid, but I did not drink enough. I was dehydrated this afternoon, but I managed to drink a lot of fluids and felt better within two hours following the ride.

Pre ride, I had to slap a computer on the Trek, as my Cateye Astrale 8 is on my E7 TT bike (I borrowed the Astrale 8 from my wife's bike, as well as her pedals for this ride!). I was doing some routine maintenance on the Giant prior to shipping it, and found the left Keo pedal spindle appears to be bent. Now these are my Look Keo Carbons, decent pedals, but they have 3,800+ miles on them. I need to contact Look to determine if I can get a new spindle-I do not want to risk the crash if my pedal shaft snaps! I took the newest pair of pedals I have for the trip, a set of Keo Classics which should be just fine.

I managed to get my early season tan lines started today as well, I put on sunscreen, but my jersey sleeves must have slipped up as I rode, and yep, I got some serious farmer lines (still red) going.

One week from today and I will have started the 1,000 mile ride. By this time next Friday, I will have 115 miles under my belt! I hope there isn't a huge heat up for the ride, I guess time will tell. I have a feeling I will be tired next week, and the routine might fall in like this: ride all day, go eat dinner, have a beer (maybe) and go to bed, then repeat.

I need to pack my clothing and go over my bike gear this weekend. One more trip to the LBS, I need a few sleeveless base layers, a rain cover for my helmet. It was a bit like Christmas the past two days, except for the 8 degree temps and sun! I just got a Nike Windblock ride vest today in the mail, very nice purchase on ebay for $22. Yesterday, I got my new pair of Assos UNO bibs as well. I will be bringing 2-pair of Assos and 1-Pearl Izumi bibs; I wore the new Assos today, very comfortable, nice chamois, fit is exceptional. I want to (eventually) have all my bibs be Assos brand, I just need to budget properly to afford another 2-3 pair!