When you know it was a good one

My long ride sauce has been pretty weak this summer......to be real honest its been totally nonexistent. In 08 and 09 I put in the kind of miles Corey and Troy put in. Saturdays were reserved for spending 8 hours sitting on my bike and Tuesdays meant I would pound out 65 miles of flinthill gravel then roll into Kites still kitted-up and filthy for a $3.50 "nightcap" (a pitcher of rotgut and diet coke) much to the chagrin of my cowboy and farming friends.
But with a the easy access to good singletrack in O, and job that is affecting my quality of life the long rides have fallen to the wayside.

This morning I decided it was time to go to the Church of the Big Ring. My plan was to ride from Waterloo to Tranquility, then to Jewell Park, then hit Swanson on the way back through, back to Tranquility, and then home, turning a lap at each location. I think that it was roughly 55 miles of gravel and rail trail and 22 miles of singletrack all in the heat of the day(I don't use a computer so who really knows).
On the ride back from Jewell and Swanson I had the take a break under one of the bridge as the wind out of the north and the heat were starting to wear on me. I was sitting there trying to perfect my "thousand yard stare" when Alex Sanchez rolls by, so I got to chat with Alex for a few minutes. He is always so positive and that definitely helped my moral.


I felt like my tan lines needed more definition.


On the way back from Jewell it was time for some A/C and sustenance. Yeah, rice and beans.
I was also pleased that I did this entire ride on 90 oz of water, peanuts, cashews, a burrito, and 64 oz of gatorade. I am notoriously (salt) crusty in the heat so I use the nuts for sodium replacement. Trying to get away from using so much gel, that stuff is going to give me diabetes.