The Wave

And just like that, I now have an outdoor ride in the books for the month of February.

Saturday afternoon.

44 degrees. Sunny. Light wind.

Make no mistake, it was still cold out there on the bike, but boy it felt good to be back outside, be it ever so short and fleeting. There is plenty of punch left in Old Man Winter in Wisconsin.

Today was the first test of the new shoes and cleats on the primary road bike outside. I did have them covered with booties. They felt good. Crisp snaps in and out of the pedals and my body position seemed fine. I'll have to make sure once I can lose a few layers of clothing and feel more natural on that bike outside.

So far so good. I do have a little shifting issue with noise in a couple of gears. Spring cleaning checkup will be in order at Cranked Bike Studio.

I only had to ride through one puddle on each lap. The roads were pretty dry in the neighborhood.

I did five laps of my crit course, then peeled off to ride over and then back over the WG Bryan Bridge.

I wanted to give the first wave of the new year and riding season.

You can see that when crossing up and over the bridge you ride right past ThedaCare Hospital. For many a ride, both heading out and back, I have climbed up this bridge and then as I pass the hospital I look at those windows and give a little wave to no one in particular.

I'm just thinking about them, stuck in a hospital room and unable to be outside and on a bike like me. If the roles were reversed I'd think it was pretty cool if I saw a roadie go past my window and wave. So that's what I do. And as I do 'the wave' I silently thank the good Lord that I am healthy enough and have the ability to be out here on a nice day riding a bike instead of being in a hospital room. Don't take a single day for granted!

If I wanted to pursue riding at least once in each month of this year again like I did last year, I could. January and February are done.

2021 OUTDOOR

RIDE ROUTE-- Neighborhood Crit, 7 laps (and the bridge climb)

MILES-- 15.0

AVE. SPEED-- 14.1

WEATHER-- 44, Sunny, Light wind

TOTAL OUTDOOR MILES-- 25.7

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2021 INDOOR

WORKOUT-- mph Carmichael

MILES-- 10.5

TOTAL INDOOR MILES-- 261.0