first long ride of spring 2014

After all my equivocating earlier today, at 1:30 I finally set out on a long ride. The original plan was to ride up Campsite to the top of the hill, ride east to the pond, turn around and ride west up the hill, turn around and ride home. But when I stopped near the pond to take some pictures, another cyclist was approaching, across the highway. Seeing me stopped, he very kindly rode across to ask if I was OK. Of course I was fine, but I did appreciate the gesture. 

Once assured that I didn't need assistance, he continued to ride west, leaving me with a choice. I could carry on with my plan to turn around and ride west, too, which would mean following on his tail. Awkward. Or I could opt for Plan B and ride east to the airport before turning around and heading west. Plan B it was. 

So I rode to the airport.

  

After turning around I then rode west as planned, to the top of the big hill, turned around and then turned right at Deer Trail. No deer today. No ducks, no geese, no hawks. The ponds were mostly iced over, but the fields were almost bare of snow. 

 

The ride back to town was against the wind, which of course is grossly unfair, as it is mostly downhill. How can a cyclist reach maximum speed on those downhill stretches when the wind is against her? Oh well, I made it back in good shape I rode about 42 km, not bad for the season's first ride.

 I was dressed just right for the weather, always a good thing. And I saw lots of other cyclists. In addition to Mr. Helpful, I saw two guys riding together, a woman riding alone, and another guy riding alone. 

And as I rode home, I had a pleasant encounter with a pick-up truck. I am not a truck lover. In fact, one of my favourite "22 Minutes" spoofs is the one about the truck. But I had to rethink my attitude today. I came up to a red light behind a line of 4 vehicles, the last of which was a red pick-up with his right-turn signal flashing. I took my place in line and waited patiently, but when the light turned green, the pick-up driver waved frantically, gesturing me to go ahead. I was impressed. Talk about taking the wind out of my sails when it comes to dissing pick-up trucks!