Back to Woodland

Taking the only clean, construction-free and non-blocked road I know of to get out of town among my bike routes these days, I headed out to tackle a longer ride utilizing Woodland, a beautiful little stretch of road at about the halfway mark of a 30-mile ride.

The road calls.

Look at it.

Once you get up there and hit the section that is canopied by trees it is simply stunning.

All you can see to the left and right is trees.

The cooling tunnel of trees provides a welcome distraction of beautiful scenery.

And this stretch is so peaceful, without a vehicle in sight for miles. The quiet is deafening.

For long stretches out here it's nothing but me and the corn and the cows. I love it.

I DID miss my initial turn that takes me out there, but it was sort of intentional. There was a string of cars behind me passing me and it was too dangerous to attempt to turn left or stop so I just kept going straight knowing I'd eventually be able to get over to the place I needed to be. I did. Just took a different road to get there.

Once out a little deeper to the west it is as if a switch goes off. No more cars. No more noise. No worrying about being on a narrow two-lane road because there are hardly ever any vehicles to worry about in the first place.

Now I'm not saying 30 miles was easy today. Going into a little wind and uphill on mile number 20 I felt it was time to slam a Hammer Gel to give my legs a little boost. It helped.

I struggled at times in the final 5-6 miles, but overall I gutted things out and for the most part enjoyed being out there on what can only be described as some fantastic summer weather.

RIDE ROUTE

Woodland Loop

30.0 miles

Average Speed= 13.6 mph

Sunny, 78 degrees

Wind 5-10 mph

2020 SEASON MILES

Indoor: 125.6

Outdoor: 1,176

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