Looking for history

Tuesday I set off for a little bit longer of a ride than the usual 40-50 miles I have been doing on my days off. The plan was to ride up through the city down through Varina, turn a quick lap through the Battlefield and then head back home via Riverside Dr and Old Gun. I knew it was going to be a hot one which actually turned out to be a record breaking day so I carried 3 bottles, two on Le Antique and one on my aging back.

The ride started with fresh legs which were putting out some power without very much effort. That was until I reached the city and all the stop and go traffic due to lights really took a toll on my legs. Once out of the city it felt as if Osborne Rd was never going to end. For those who have never ridden it, Osborne Rd is FLAT and STRAIGHT. Stopped at the entrance to the park for a photo op at which time I took the opportunity to switch my bottles around.

Le Antique wanted to stop and look for long lost relatives

A quick lap through the park and I was headed back to the city for another round of stop and go. Once over onto Riverside the heat really started to get to me. I was almost out of fluids in the 3rd bottle so I decided to stop and fill up at the top of Old Gun in Salisbury. I ended up going through 5.5 bottles in the 4 hours 19 minutes I was on the road. The ride ended up being 79 miles long. I am not sure I will do that particular route again, as I really did not have any fun going through the city.

Got myself a very sweet tan line. It actually isn't as red as it looks in the pic but it is getting dark. Especially for a pasty white guy like myself.

Yesterday, I ended up riding home from work once again. I have started doing this at least 2-3 times a week now. Just as I had hoped there really wasn't anything exciting about it as my legs felt fine.

Today, I headed out to what is becoming one of my favorite routes to do once again. I used to ride out the Powhatan way quite often when I first started riding the road. Not really sure why I stopped but I did. Now I have ridden twice in the same number of weeks and I am really enjoying it. The route is about 45 miles long which can be shortened or lengthened to suit my fancy which is nice. It contains a lot of climbing mixed with a healthy amount of flats in some parts.

The entrance to the radio controlled airplane field. I hear it is actually quite exclusive.

Just like yesterday, my legs felt good and I was able to put in a good ride while maintaining/conserving energy by keeping my HR in check. The wind was kinda nasty today as the storm is coming in this evening but that just meant it was also cooler than on Tuesday's ride. I have one more day of commuting home tomorrow before what looks like 2 days off the bike until Monday.