Pass me the fork please

Some rides just etch themselves in memory, yesterday being one of those. The weather was sunny, but a little crisp. This had me bemoaning the fact that I cannot find my other bootie to cover my shoes, with holes in the bottom for hot weather it made for a certain amount of tingling towards the end. Especially dumb moment coming when nearly home as it occurs to me that the tape I had wrapped around my pump could have been put to better use covering those holes...doh !

It was really the first ‘spring’ ride, trees are in bud, as can be seen in one of the pictures some crops are in the ground and calves are being born, the start of the re-birth of life after the winter hibernation.

The ride itself was 3 hours through west Montgomery County, from Gaithersburg up to Damascus then down through Laytonsville, Brookeville (which was the US Capitol for the Day once) and Olney before hooking back. The countryside reminds me of why I love this area, as can be seen all country roads allowing me to just roam, alone with nature and the solitude of my thoughts, my only company for much of the ride being the whir of my tires on the hardtop.

The treat on the way home was the line of Rolls Royce and Bentley cars outside Dave’s Bistro, absolutely gorgeous, I loved the juxtaposition of the boots on the running board of the oldest, the Smart car at one end, and not picture the Ferrari F430 parked the other end.

So 3 hours in the saddle, then topped off by throwing off my helmet and lacing on my shoes for a 1 hour run. Much like the swim it was encouraging to be able to complete that level of workout with no issues. It also topped off my longest week yet of 12 hours training. This week is a recovery week of around 7 hours training to allow my body to recover and rebuild from the increasing efforts of the last three weeks, and prepare for the next three week build.

The body is a remarkable machine :-)

More ride pictures here