Felt like I drank a cup of tiger's blood before today's ride -- 10.9 mph avg speed on Spring Canyon Inner loop. That's probably a PR but I haven't looked back through my journals. Elapsed time was about 10-12 minutes faster over a loop I've ridden at least 30 times. Funny thing is, I did 4.5 hours of yard work and had only coffee and soda all day before riding at 3:30.

I rode up at least one gear (sometimes two) on the climbs, and felt really fluid on the descents. It's funny how fitness and bike-handling skills can vary from day to day. I rode the same loop a week ago Sunday, and my avg speed was 1.3 mph slower with the same apparent effort.

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A bicycle is a splendid thing.
~Ernest Hemingway

So very true. It's a mystery to me. I don't know until I start riding.

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Thus, if we are to understand the world, we should live somewhere between judgement and amazement — Alfredo Lopez Austin

^^ This also holds true for dogs, too. I train a neighbors' dog on my bike, and I use the trails in Florida canyon after dark, since there are to my knowledge no rattlers in Florida canyon. At least in the hundreds of times I've been through there, I've never seen so much as a snake track on the trails.

There are rabbits, though. Lots of rabbits, and a coyote or two. But the dog, whose name is Buck, usually averages around 5-6 mph, after beginning at less than 4 mph. (He was a bit out of shape).

The other night, for no apparent reason, our avg. speed went all the way up to 7.7 mph. That's a record for him, for sure. He's a Beagle-Lab mix, they think.

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Scum on a Bike

Sadly, I am already back to normal - 9.4 mph average speed over the same loop today. I took it a little bit easy, but not enough to account for the 1.5 mph difference.

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A bicycle is a splendid thing.
~Ernest Hemingway

Must have just missed you this morning -- 7 am start from bushy hill lot.

Even at "only" 9.4 mph, you would have passed me.

Twice

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"Those skilled at the unorthodox are infinite as heaven and earth, inexhaustible as the great rivers."
— Tzun Tzu

We left the Visitors' Center at 9:00, so you were probably already home by the time we hit Spring Canyon. If we could get you on a bike with more than one gear, and with suspension on at least one end, I'm sure you'd hold your own.

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A bicycle is a splendid thing.
~Ernest Hemingway

I also had a good day yesterday. I did some riding new to me. I think I did the best time on that trail I will have ever done thanks for bringing it into perspective.

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We'll ride it till they pave it. -Clyde

Wow. You must have phenomenal balance skills!

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Scum on a Bike