Garmin Data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78205680

Normally I’d ride early in the morning to avoid afternoon winds and storms. Today I took a late morning nap instead. As I age, I am listening more and more to my body and resting when it says “Rest, NOW!”  Even after I awoke from my nap I was a bit groggy. So, I spent some time wiping Scooter down (since he’d gotten rather dirty riding in wet conditions the last few times out) and by the time I was done pampering him I was ready to ride.

I called my folks and let them know my itinerary (since Beth was out of town) and off we went. My plan was to head north and either go to Carter Lake or towards Masonville by way of CO-34 and the dam. Either way, I planned to stop by my folks on the way back to visit.

Right out of the gate I felt good. The pedals turned easily and I felt extremely content.  We made it to the first check point (the stop sign at the intersection of Cty Rd-23 and CO-56) in what felt like record time. We must’ve had a tail wind but it wasn’t obvious.  I decided to turn and climb to Carter Lake. Before I left the house, I reread a short piece in Bicycling magazine that detailed a short interval training workout. It sounded “fun” — ride all out for 45 seconds, recover for 15 seconds then all out again for 20 more seconds. After that take a 2 min 40 second recovery. Repeat. They suggested that newbies do two sets of five intervals with a full recovery between sets. Advanced riders do all 10 intervals as one set!

Well, I got in  three sets in before I reached the switchbacks that lace up the face of Carter Lake dam. ( I checked my Garmin heart rate graph after the ride and I could easily identify my three intervals – look starting at about 15 minutes into the ride. Pretty cool.) I plan to do the full 10 sets next time — probably next week. It will be interesting to see how this affects my “power.”

Instead of doing the normal loop that includes riding back home via the Hog’s back, I turned around at the top of the climb and headed back down the way I came. Then, at the bottom I turned north for a short bit and took the back way to my folks. My Dad was fighting a leak in his garden’s watering system and my Mom was inside watching a golf tournament on TV. We had a nice visit — nothing earth shattering to discuss, just enjoyed each other’s company and caught up on family stuff. Then, off again for the final stretch back to the farm. Pulled into the driveway with little time to spare. Shortly after I got home the winds whipped up. Good thing I didn’t nap any longer!

Here is a shot I took on my way to the first check point – I pass the windmill EVERY time I ride north. You may wonder why you haven’t seen this before — well, it is off to the right side of the road on a lovely downhill stretch and I have never been willing to stop and snap the shot before today. Funny, how I stopped today and still managed a fast pace to the check point. Go figure.

Here’s a few more that I took as I rode around Carter Lake — Looks like the boy scouts descended for the weekend. There must’ve been at least 40-50 small tents and lots of larger tarps over communal kitchen and gathering space. 

A more pleasant image (for me, anyway) was a lone fisherman casting from a large rock at the edge of the lake. Didn’t seem to be catching anything, and didn’t seem to care.

My parting shot from today’s ride still has me scratching my head. I rode past a field that looked like it was being set up for irrigation. But, look at the way the irrigation pipes are laid out? Does it make any sense to you? I sure can’t figure out how the farmer expects the water to flow.