A little stiff

Woke up a little stiff this morning after my T100 mini-epic. I met up with a family friend for lunch and then drove to the airport from Scottsdale. She was in town for a conference and didn't know I was here until she talked to Sarah on Saturday. Her folks are old friends from Spokane and it was great to catch up.

Later in the afternoon, after the old bones had loosened up a bit, I took off on the road bike, explored the neighborhood a bit, then caught the bike path from 32nd at the 51 and rode it down to the canal. Followed the canal back to 7th St, up 7th to Cave Creek, to Thunderbird and back to the apartment. In all, about 15 miles. It was not at all strenuous, and it sure helped loosen things up.

This is only the 3rd time I've been on the road bike since moving to Phoenix last August. After all the mountain biking, it is really kind of surprising how much easier it is to maintain reasonable speed on hills. Certainly not fast by any definition, but I'm comparing it to the 4.5 years in Kansas, where you figure out which way the wind is blowing, ride against it for an hour, or until boredom sets in, then turn around and pray that the wind doesn't shift 180 degrees before you get home. Kansas isn't completely flat, but if you stand on a beer can, you can see Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma as you spin around (until the can crushes). Riding in Kansas is more of a chore than a fun activity. Around Wichita and Clearwater, where we lived, mountain biking consists of riding the dirt/gravel roads between the wheat fields. Road biking consists of riding the paved roads between the wheat fields. Although that's not entirely true, there are also fields of corn, milo, soy, cotton, and occasionally sunflowers.

There are actually some good trails around Topeka and Lawrence, Perry lake comes to mind, but good riding in Kansas is a long drive from Clearwater. I much prefer the 1 mile commute to the 32nd St trailhead.