Late Ride

The nice thing about vacation is that when it is raining early in the morning one can wait for the weather to clear before heading out. That's what I did this morning, actually waiting a little more than necessary in order to watch stage 10 of the TDF. It was an exciting stage, as expected with the long climb first up the Tourmalet and finishing up on the Hautacom. Caudel Evans hung on to claim the Yellow Jersey despite a charge from Frank Schleck that left him one second behind. That Jersey is by no means safe yet. And Christian Vandevelde, the American and my emotional favorite, actually drew closer to the first spot while maintaining his hold on third place. The stage win by Leonardo Piepoli was very exciting as well, but the clear abilities of Ricardo Ricco continue to be showcased. He is a champion of the future and not that far off the pace for the present.

After all that I went out solo. Annie needed a day off and besides, my late schedule conflicts with hers as she still works. For whatever reason I wasn't in a great mood or feeling very relaxed and even riding didn't seem to be helping. The trail was not too crowded but whoever were out were particularly stupid. People stopping, blocking the path in various ways for various reasons, completely oblivious and unresponsive, it was frustrated and when added to the geese which seemed to choose to cross the road every time I was really getting up a good head of steam, and the various construction and maintenance projects along the Drive, I was feeling pretty lousy. I decided not to come around the West Side Drive on my second loop but continued into Manayunk and up the Wissahickon trail to Rittenhouse House. I stopped and rested and with the serenity of the park scenery allowed myself to feel better.

Came home via Kelly Drive and stopped at the bike store to replace my rear break pads that I'd noticed going yesterday.