Cooler Than Expected, Dog Charged. Forest Cove – Oakhurst – Valley Ranch
Starting today’s bike ride at 2:01 PM I hoped the weather would be as warm as the forecast said but it wasn’t. By the time I finished the ride at 4:08 PM the temperature was still the same. I was glad I dressed warmly with shorts, leg warmers, long sleeve thermal jersey, windbreaker jacket, and full finger gloves. It took me more than 11 minutes to start warming up from the effort. The high was supposed to reach 68 but the best it could do was 64 with a 12 mph SE wind to emphasize the chill for me. My 60 degree lower threshold is there for a reason.
Wanting to add more road miles to get closer to my mileage goal for the month I chose the “Forest Cove – Oakhurst – Valley Ranch” route. Due to the starting time I didn’t have too long to ride more than the 27.79 miles. My February road miles now total 167.1, 56% of the goal. It has been awhile since I last rode this route, October 17th, 2021. That ride was slightly longer, 9/10ths of a mile.
After riding the Cervelo Caledonia on all the previous rides since I got it I switched to the Lynskey R300 for today. I remembered the shifting sequence after using the Rival AXS eTap on the Cervelo but I think I’m spoiled by the electronic shifting on the Cervelo.
The ride went normally until a dog charged at me on Adams Street. I saw him moving from the right grass to the left side of the road (it’s in the video). Dogs know angels and he was in front of me. He barked once as he came close but as I sped up he didn’t chase me but a few feet. The dogs that occupied the NW corner of Rock Creek and Northpark Drive were absent today. I wonder if they were picked up. I don’t miss their aggressive behavior.
I fell short of 100 miles for the week due to eye surgery on Monday and two days of recovery. But that’s okay. I’m enjoying the improved vision and wearing the wrap around glasses while biking.
I was surprised to record a top result in Strava, 3rd fastest time on Don’t Get Run Over on Hamblen West (45s). The title of the segment doesn’t represent my experiences biking there but traffic can be heavy at times.
