Sunday

Work deadlines have been stacking up so I worked most of the weekend but Leah gave me a kitchen pass Sunday afternoon to get some saddle time. My goal was about 2.5 hours at a moderate pace. After Lost Creek I realized how good I was feeling by looking at the lap time being sub 36 minutes. This is the first ride in a while that I didn’t have to push the big ring because I finally got my new middle ring installed. What a difference the gearing can make after training with the harder gear ratio for the last several rides. I finished the 20 mile outer loop in 1:45 plus/minus which is not impressive but I didn’t really work too hard either. Sitting in the parking lot I became inspired by Monty’s route from Lexington so I thought I’d give it a try. I left the forest and rode through Irmo and across the Dam to Corley Mill Road. Dropped in early for homegroup with some friends and Mike shuttled me back to the forest. The total distance was 30 miles and about 2:30 ride time.

As a side note, the bike lanes on Hwy 60 and then across the dam on 6 are super nice and really make road riding feel a little safer.