Whew! What a ride!

What a ride in several ways. I always look forward to riding a new route and today was no exception. I decided today that I would ride out to Rex Lake Road and Grants Mill Road to create a new loop for me. The ride wasn't lonely as I saw 4 other cyclists out at the same time on Rex Lake. I have to recommend Rex Lake Rd as a good road to ride. It's well traveled by cyclists so motorists are used to seeing bikes and give you plenty of room.

That being said, be leary of riding on Rex Lake heading away from Leeds. Reason being is that they are laying new drainage pipe on SW bound lane and it is incredibly rough. So just be aware if you intend to ride that direction.

My ride along Grants Mill was interesting. I hadn't anticipated the sheer volume of traffic on that road at 6:30 in the evening. It was a bit uncomfortable knowing that I had a line of cars behind me that couldn't pace due to the nature of the road and the amount of traffic. Even while travling in the 20-25mph range. What I hadn't realized was that today was Wednesday and that new megachurch on Grants Mill was having it's Wednesday service. I also didn't realize just how rough the ride on Grants Mill would be. I mean I knew the road was bad, but good lord I got my butt beat! Several times I thought I was going to get bounced right out of my clips!

Next time I ride this loop I'll try it in reverse and hope that the traffic is better and that the other side of the roads are a bit smoother.

The total distance was 23.18 miles, my average pace was 3:56 a personal best for this area. My average speed was 15.2mph with a max of 39.5mph, all while burning 2243 calories!

Not bad for not having been on a bike in 5 days.