56 Percent

Some randonneur website had a hilarious de-motivational poster with a photo like this, making fun of the absurd behaviors exhibited by randonneurs. This staged photo, taken today outside a convenience store, is my homage to the hobby.

Today was cloudy all day, with no sunshine at all, and temps hung in the 30s. My cycling companion surprised me with long-lasting single-use chemical toe warmer pads. Wow, what a treat. Popular with ice fisherman and hunters, they worked great in my boots. A few of these pads will soon go into my already overloaded bag of tricks.

As we were riding, a chain came loose at an intersection where we were supposed to turn. In the distraction of re-railing the chain, we forgot to look at the street sign. Focused on moving again, we continued straight, thus missing the turn. I was watching my GPS, but thought I had programmed it wrong. By the time we realized our error and doubled back, the missed turn gave us three extra miles. This brought our total today to 70 miles (112km). Oh well, lesson learned.

We ate a little better en route today, and drank more too. Our overall speed is on target. But our 70 miles today is only 56 percent of a 125 mi (200km) brevet, and my butt was (and is) quite sore. My respect for randonneurs increases with every ride.

Today's GPS minutia: Distance 70.36 mi. Moving time 5:54 hrs:mins. Stopped 1:45. Moving average speed 11.9mph. Overall 9.2mph.

Interactive route map: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2509179