Aaaahhhhhhh...

First off, Sunday was another ride with Justin - almost 20 miles! Excellent for a 13 year old on a clunky mountain bike with a dragging front brake. We'll have him up to 30 miles in no time.

And then today, it was 75, perfectly sunny, with a gentle breeze. What could I do but break out Ruby? The first thing I did, before even lifting the bike off the wall, was clear off last year's last numbers from the computer. Those numbers were left over from Asheville - hard to believe that it's been six months since I last rode Ruby!

With the tires pumped up to their full 125 psi riding pressure, I was off, and feeling klutzy. I'd thought the hybrid was twitchy, but it turns out it's just me working off the winter lumps. As I got the feeling back a bit, I could pay attention to how much easier the bike would accelerate, and how precise everything is. You think that bike around a corner rather than steering. A gear change is a twitch of the finger, a click from the shifter and a corresponding click from the drivetrain, and a slight change in pedalling effort and cadence. Nobody needs a 10 speed cassette, but you can have mine when you pry it from my cold dead greasy fingers.

Anyway, bike adoration aside, it was a lovely 33 mile ride, on my new "standard" route. I was rewarded with a 17.5 mile an hour average and a nice saddle sore. Yay for Desitin.