Last Sunday I rode the 52km home from my parents place on Bonnie. Normally I ride out and most often stop at the beginning of the 'bumpy' road as the kids used to call it. With a fresh layer of oil now covering the entire 16.5 km I wanted to try it with skinny tires. I had rolled around the intersection while waiting for Sal earlier in the summer and it seemed smooth enough. Driving out it felt ride-able. Five minutes into the ride home I knew that I had been wrong, the new section had not been traveled over enough to flatten it and there was lots of loose gravel on the edges. Dad had mentioned that it was still rough on the edges. If I got forced too far right I was going to be in trouble. I couldn't just roll freely down the hills so it would be slow going. And there are a lot more hills on the way out, or so it seemed. Once I got to the section oiled last year it was much safer as there was no gravel to worry about and much smoother.
I took nearly an hour to cover the distance to the highway. I had to walk 100 yards up one hill as my right calve was teetering on a cramp. Better to avoid those with 40 km to go. I stretched it out and never had any further problems. The wind which had been helping the hills slow me down was now a crosswind on the highway. Once I made the turn to the east it was a tailwind and I hit 50 kmph a few times on the flat sections. There's nothing more exhilarating for me than getting Bonnie through the gears, putting my hands in the drops and pushing hard. It just feels so fast. It took just over two hours to make it home so I made great time once on the highway.
The Northwood season opens up on Sunday and as usual I will have to endure the first round of games while we see how the teams match up. Not my favourite time of year. I'm seriously thinking about ending my full time involvement.
Sal is off to Calgary then Vancouver for 9 days on Sunday so I hope to get caught up on a few things around the house.
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