Distance: 33 mi.
Time: 1:47:00
Avg. Speed: 18.5 mph
Weather: 59-73º, W7, sunny and clear
Song stuck in head: The Fool, Old 97's
Wow, the weather today could not have been better: 70 degrees-plus, no clouds, not too much wind. Kept the route (posted below) away from the bigger climbs in Harvard after yesterday's hard ride but of course, I didn't exactly take it easy. I really enjoy the stretch along Rte. 225 from the corner of Westford through Carlisle and into Concord. There are long sections where I can maintain 25-30 mph with 3 short but steep hills along the way. Gotta do better on those hills but I'm really pleased with how I felt on this ride.
A couple of observations:
1) You have to remember that if you feel particularly strong as you ride along, you WILL come to a point – usually at the furthest point of your route – where you make that one turn that points you back in the direction from which you came and find that you weren't having a great day after all, you merely had a tailwind all the way out and now you get to buck it all the way home.
2) There are a lot of landscaping companies out there! I must have been passed by over 20 trucks, many with trailers racing to the next lawn to mow. It kept me thinking of how much energy is wasted keeping a traditional lawn as well as all the pollution created not only by the equipment actually used for lawncare, but also by the trucks, usually diesel, tooling about the suburbs from job to job. I think one bellwether of the downturn in the economy might soon be seeing fewer landscapers on the road and more homeowners either taking care of their own lawns or landscaping without grass lawns altogether...
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