West and Back on the Road

It feels like it's been a while since I headed out on a longish road ride.  Sunday morning is church time for our family, but with two sick kids we stayed home today.  So, this morning I unhooked the road bike from its perch, pumped the tires, and set out on a ride with no specific route in mind.

Sun at back , heading west in the morning.

The sun was laying down some heat already but the humidity was not too uncomfortable yet.  A induced breeze of riding along helps on the road.

Tough decision; turned left for a longer ride.

I rode past Mohican Golf Course and into Ashland County.  Turning south I found an Ashland County Park I had either never seen before, or it was never there before.  The park only consisted of a short trail through the woods to a canoe launch on a stream.

I followed the sign to check it out.

I'm really not sure where you could paddle on this stream.  Knowing this area a little bit, I didn't think there would be any constant streams through these low lying areas.  I figured the waterways would come and go.  But I guess it's currently as dry as it has ever been and there is still a stream, so what do I know.

The canoe launch into a muddy stream.

After visiting the canoe launch I circled south and had a couple good gravel / chip-and-seal climbs.  At some point I lost track of where I was and found a couple new road to bring me back to the east.  The sun was getting higher and hotter as I rode.

Interesting terrain formation.

About 2 and half hours after rolling out the driveway I pedaled back up the driveway a sweaty mess.  It felt good to be out!

North Before East

Based on the wind prediction yesterday, Ryan and I planned to ride northwest this morning.  The climb out of Overton on Smithville Western was part of our plan.  We figured it would be a good uphill in preparation for our trip to Boone.

Upon checking the weather this morning I notice the wind direction was not meeting the prediction of the day before.  Instead of coming from the northeast the wind was coming from the east.  I fired up TopoUSA to do a reroute but had to left the Smithville Western climb on our route.

We ended up doing the climb and then riding back south to Angling Road before heading west into Ashland County.  We turned south just before reaching Hayesville and made a loop back home via Shreve Lake.

Headin' south, just west of the county line.

The sun was shining the whole ride and we enjoyed temperatures in the upper 50's.  Just like nearly every ride so far this spring, it was a windy ride.  Oh well, I guess the headwind simulated steeper roads.

In a week and a half Ryan and I will be headed to Boone, NC for five days of riding!  Lots to do between now and then to get ready for the trip.  I'll probably work on the truck bed shelf system tomorrow.