DEJA VU

It's been almost a year since I last rode the 360 Loop that used to be my Sunday morning staple when training to ride coast to coast. This is 360, Bee Cave, 620, and back to my car through Balcones for a total of 42 miles and seven significant climbs. I wanted to be home early so left at 6:20am and was riding by 6:45am. I'm still not pushing the heart rate, trying to stay in the 80% range, plus the stiff wind was in my face for the first hour, but when I turned onto Bee Cave Rd, my time matched my average. Now, with the wind helping, I began cranking the big ring. Apparently I went to sleep somewhere in the next half hour, because when I looked at the clock at Lake Travis HS, I had lost ten minutes. What should have taken 30 minutes took 40, and with the wind at my back, my only explanation is aliens abducted me, used my body for experimentation, then erased my memory. Riding 620 to the dam and up to Steiner Ranch didn't stress the heart rate, and I had two extra gears at the end, but I couldn't seem to generate the speed necessary to make up any time. At least I didn't lose any more. It was a fine workout but I'll pay more attention to low flying aircraft and/or vans parked by the side of the road.