First ride of fall

Even though it was hot and humid yesterday morning when I went out, it really was a fall ride. You can smell the late-season flowers and bushes now and the sky is getting that washed-out look. The grass has a lot of yellow in it and the first yellow leaves are starting to show up on the sycamores.

Plus the squashed copperheads. Saw the first one of those yesterday too.

After a short stop to read the new hunter warning sign on a Duke Forest access point, I was actually a bit cool when I got back on the bike. So I guess I'll need to get the long-sleeve jerseys out of the cedar chest and ready for action.

And I ran up on some guy on a Cervelo TT bike. I suppose those handlebars are OK on smooth pavement, but on bumpy rural backroads, they look like a pain.

I suck

But this guy doesn't.

An amazing collection of bike pron.

And now for something completely different

Japanese Bugfights!

Low sparks

A nearby middle school has a quarter-mile asphalt track around the soccer/football field. Sometimes when I'm tired of dealing with traffic I'll ride up there and do laps.

Part of the zen of cycling for me is doing my own work on the bike, and the payoff for that is a perfectly silent drivetrain. Combine that with a good set of Mavic wheels and Conti tires and you have a silence that's actually preferable to listening to the iPod, which I often do when I have a music jones to cure.

Anyway, I was able to hold 22mph for about 10 minutes after I had warmed up before dropping back to my normal 18mph. A steep hillclimb on the way home finished the short workout. The days are getting shorter.