FOLLOWING THE RULES

     Today, for the most part, I followed my own rule: When extending your base mileage, pick a day with good weather, no time constraints, and do not pursue PRs.  The rule that I wasn't precise on was: Under 65 degrees, cover the knees.  As explained in the past, this is a "soft" rule, and if the sun is out and a light wind, with good chance the temp will go up, then you can start at 60 degrees.  I started out wearing my wind jacket for the first hour, until I could get the wind off my chest, so to speak.
     The only mistake I made was in believing I would be done before the clouds rolled back in, thus I had the wrong lenses in my sunglasses.  Rather than late afternoon, the clouds came in mid-morning and were pretty thick by 1pm.  No rain, just no sun.

Not where I was; How I felt

     I also added some new road to my itinerary.  Chandler road has been extended to Taylor, so rather than turn north on CR 130, I continue on another four and a half miles to CR 366, a totally new experience.  My friend Barry put me on to this route.  He warned me that after crossing Hwy 29, CR 341 would have a short section of hard pack dirt.  Turned out to be about a mile that I took slowly.
     In adding this additional mileage and adjusting the route to different roads, I reached Corn Hill in 2 hrs, 45 minutes, or just a little shy of 40 miles.  That left me with 30 miles of return trip.  I had intended to divide the trip into hours, but forgot to hit the button for hour 4.  Hour two included the slow slog in the dirt, plus going uphill, against the mild wind.  Besides, my quads were complaining.  Hour 3 included continued uphill and a short lunch break in Corn Hill (4 minutes).  I had some slight wind aid on the way home, and even more wind at my back when I finally reached University and turned west.
     My overall speed, in the saddle, was a very nice 15.4mph.  Total time stopped, either for food/nature breaks or red lights, was 11 minutes.  My heart-rate was mostly below 110, although my chest strap started going wonky on me.  Each time I dropped onto my aero bars, the heart rate started rising by 10s-20s and quickly reached 240-260.  Totally bogus, but certainly throws my stats in the trash can.  My muscles had not been over-worked, and I didn't need to collapse in the chair.  Even more astounding, to me, was the amount of energy I still had at the end of the ride.  As a matter of fact, a quick protein shake, a quick shower, and I was off running errands that needed to be done before Marilane comes home tomorrow.  It has to be the diet.