Smoothing Out the Bumps

Distance: 25.4 miles

Time: 1:16:23

Avg. Speed: 19.95 mph

Weather: 69-74º, 65-84%, wind W5-S1, slightly overcast

July mileage total: 517 miles

Song stuck in head: Cup of Wonder - Jethro Tull

I think I've woven together a nice, mostly flat route (map below) that runs from Maynard into Sudbury then to Stow, Acton and back to Maynard again. Theres a few smallish hills and rollers along the way but a lot of the ride is along well paved, flat-ish roads.

My legs were feeling achier this morning than they did the day after I rode the Climb to the Clouds, but I wanted to apply at least a moderate effort since Saturday is only a couple of days away and it wouldn't make sense to ride hard tomorrow (Friday).

Since I started out after 9 a.m., traffic was not an issue, though it is likely it would be on Rte. 27, Fairbanks and Hudson/Sudbury Roads during rush hour. The section that runs near Lake Boon on the Sudbury/Hudson border is a recently repaved and shady flat road for the first mile with older road surface and rollery terrain for the next.

The one bigger hill in this stretch is met shortly after crossing the Assabet River and is quite manageable, though today, I was feeling the burn about halfway up. Next is a descent that takes you across Rte. 62, past Stow Acres CC then up Hudson Road to Rte. 117 where it goes left to then go right onto Lantern Lane which leads to Harvard Road. The sun was fully out at this point and, fully warmed up, I was keeping a nice pace of 21 mph at this point.

Harvard Road becomes Garner then Taylor and then the route goes right, onto Old Harvard Road which leads to Burroughs and the rest of the route is the return trip of my 20 mile "time trial". I was able to maintain my 20+ mph pace the rest of the way home except for the short climb up Pompositicutt a mile or so from home.

Not much to report, performance-wise - the lack of bigger hills made it easy to keep a moderate effort the whole way without any trouble. Tomorrow, a short, easy ride and then hopefully Saturday will allow a longer ride of more effort.