An idyllic ride

The day dawned sunny and clear; at least I assume it did, as that’s what I woke up to at 7:30. The temperature however, was only 47°.   That would be a great temperature in mid-winter, but a bit cool for a summer ride.  By 10:00 it was into the mid 60s and I headed out Airport Road.  There was a slight haze over the distant hills—the result of distant wildfires.  It was not enough to affect my breathing, as my lungs were working as effortlessly as the rolling tires.  I breezed up Airport Hill at nearly 8 mph—a far cry from my normal struggle to maintain 5 mph.  Turning off Masterson onto Red Bridge Road, I rocketed through the curves and over the slight hills until I came to the Teanaway River.  There, crossing the river were two deer; it was as if I was meant to get there at that particular time.  By the time I got the camera out, they were across the river but still visible on the spit of gravel in the center of the picture, near some bushes.

I’ve gotten a new camera so I played with the settings a bit and came up with this shot—essentially the same, sans deer.

I continued on for another mile or so and thought this old hay barn was rather interesting.

And that pretty much concluded the first half of a somewhat idyllic ride.  On the way home I concentrated on improving my conditioning with high speed sprints and high cadence spinning.