In January of 2013, I joined Tim, Patrick, and Timothy for a sloppy-winter gravel ride out of Marengo Indiana. Today, it was Tim, Timothy, Jeff, and I.
Last time was a planned 40-mile ride, but was shortened a bit. This time, we did the short version, at 36 miles.
Last time it was cold and muddy with bits of ice. Today was cool, but mostly pleasant. There were still several creek crossings and numerous large puddles, so I didn’t stay dry, but it wasn’t a problem.
I’ve gained a lot of weight and lost fitness. I really struggled on this ride. For that reason, I took no pictures. I was too busy trying to keep up.
I really wanted to give up during the first four miles. After that I felt good until mile 18, at which point the wheels fell off. I wanted to quit. I wondered what could possibly make me want to slog up and down all these damn hills.
I eventually got over it. The terrain is rugged but beautiful. Traffic is nearly non-existent. The road surface is rough enough to be interesting, but not so bad as to make it dangerous. I even managed to get the Fargo up to higher than normal speeds downhill (40mph or so – on gravel).
What really came out of this ride is that I’m too damn fat. Most of the weight gain has been from beer. I really need to re-evaluate my relationship with beer.
Edit: Tim has posted his (better) write-up with pictures.