Tim and I had planned a 7:00am ride for this morning. At 6:30 a storm with heavy rain and lightning was moving through. We made the decision to wait it out. By 7:00, things had settled down, and I headed out in the rain (by then, just a drizzle) to meet up for the ride.
I took the more direct, but hillier, route along Eastern Parkway. My loss of fitness was obvious. I was terribly slow up the hills.
My right ankle swells up frequently. I call it a cankle. The calf-portion of the cankle has atrophied due to the achilles tendon not being connected to the foot for a while – then not walking on it – and finally walking carefully on it with a limp. So, I have an atrophied cankle, and I took it out in the rain.
It was about 65F degrees. I dressed in shorts and short sleeves. That was probably under-dressing considering the rain.
Tim and I headed around some neighborhoods to warm up before hitting the hills. I had already warmed up on Eastern Parkway, but I was glad to tone it down a bit.
The hilly roads in the park are a lot of fun. I had to ride the brakes a lot to dry them while descending into a curve, but it’s all part of the fun. There were no accidents or almost-accidents. I am a bit out of practice with fast riding in the rain.
During the ride we had two downpours. One of those times included a little lightning and thunder. It passed. We looped through St. Matthews, Mockingbird Valley, and Indian Hills before heading back to Breadworks for coffee.
I stayed warm during the ride. I think the effort I was putting into keeping up with Tim kept me warm.
We arrived at Breakworks much drier. The rain had let up. We each had coffee and a snack before going our own way.
The ride home was cold. I had sat, cooling off, at Breadworks. My top speed for the day was also in the stretch home.
I got home with 31 miles on the odometer. I took a warm shower, poured another cup of coffee and sat on the front porch with the dogs for a while.
This has been a good start for the day.