4.5 miles

TOPWLH expressed surprise when I emerged after lunch prepared for bicycling. My response was that you cannot finish a ride if you do not start one.

I started one. Actually for the first bit over an hour it was plenty OK. The wind was a bit gusty but not overly punitive and it seemed to blow a hole in the overcast. There was enough blue to make pants for an entire regiment of Dutchmen. Every time the sun emerged into one of those clear spots it felt pretty darn nice.

I was pretty close to 4.5 miles from home when I rode past the spot where I spotted Ronald McD the other day. I was riding slowly because there was a sudden plethora of law enforcement vehicles (AKA lots of cop cars) going up and down the same streets I was using. I slowed down to try to see if anything interesting was going to happen.

Partly because of my slow speed I got a good look at the house Ronald had been parked in front of. I wasn't expecting to see gas for sale for 17.8 cents a gallon.I was stopped taking in the whole scene when the guy who lives in the house drove up. He invited me back into the yard to take a look at his stuff. He used to restore old gas pumps as a hobby when he had a job but stopped when he retired. He said that he sold off 30 pumps that he had that had not yet been restored but kept the nicest ones for his collection. Suffice to say that he has lots of nice stuff in the drive through garage and in the other outbuilding back there at the back of the lot. For those interested in old cars, that is a 57 Chevrolet.

I know this house is about 4.5 miles from home because I was enjoying being given a guided tour of his stuff when I realized that it had commenced sprinkling. As I have expressed on other occasions, I am highly motivated by rain. I excused myself and hammered for home. It was a full on light rain by the time I got home, the most I have been rained on while riding for several years. But I got home before the truly heavy stuff set in. I ride on mostly tree lined streets and it was still dry under the trees as I approached home. It is a bit of an adventure out there right now, sirens are sounding.

It wasn't too bad, I might even go with it was a good ride. I can say with certainty that I can still sprint full out for 4.5 miles. For that period of time I had the gusty winds behind me. I felt strong, I felt fast.

And gas was cheap. Perhaps I was time traveling.