Ramble around the old neighborhood

I thought it would be fun to ramble around the old neighborhood today. It is cool, and it's not too far from the start of school. I started at my son's daycare and rode up to my elementary school. Yes, I'm a Red Bridge Roadrunner.

After that, I rode back to our old house on Washington. I discovered - and I don't know how I did not know this - that our driveway was exactly 1 mile from the circle drive at the school.

The neighborhood has not changed much. It's still a great neighborhood. I would like to move back there some day, but we live in the town just across the state line in Kansas that simply has better schools and better services. I feel guilty about not living in Missouri, but in order to be close to my parents we would have to live too far away. Living in Kansas City is difficult if you are already settled in a community that does not have the problems Kansas City has.

I noticed during the ride that I had developed a rattle. Sure enough, after the ride I discovered that I had gone flat. Time for new tires, I think. The Specialized Mondos are not up to the kind of riding that I like to do.

Mileage versus timed riding

Today I tried something different. I wanted to practice hand positioning and climbing out of the saddle, so I planned a 30-minute ramble around the park.

I had so much fun not concentrating on speed and mileage. I really relaxed and worked on my skills. So much so, that weather permitting I am going to do another, longer timed ride tomorrow. I am going to go for 50 minutes, which should put me at 10 plus miles. The focus is on time, not speed. I managed an 11 mph plus average speed, so I only dropped a few miles per hour.

There is a big smile on my face right now.

Lazy

Well, the Oklahoma Joe's we had for dinner killed my drive. I will have to move my training schedule back a day. I was planning a thirty minute ramble around the park, but there is no way. That is going to put off my ten-mile ride another day. I might only get one in before the S2R event next weekend, but I am not too concerned about it. The important thing is to get back on track tomorrow.