It was chilly this morning. Unseasonably so...I had to wear arm warmers for the first 1/2 of the ride. But, it was also gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky, cool temps. I couldn't have asked for a better morning to set out.
I knew that the first 15 miles was going to be rough. It was the most challenging in terms of directions - lots of turns at minor streets - and in terms of traffic. Although, at 5:45 am, there's not much of the latter. And lucky for me, I grew up with decent navigational skills. In other words, when I get myself lost, and I have a map, I can get myself unlost. THANK GOD I HAD MAPS WITH ME!!! I made several wrong turns within the first 10 miles. Ironically, one of them was on a road called Good Intent. Yeah, Good Intent my ass...should be called "The Road to Hell" or "Make 12 Wrong Turns Road" or something. Anywho...what this told me from very early on was that my 85 mile trek was going to be looking more like 95 miles! (Yes, that's right...I went out of my way a grand total of 8 miles!)
Eventually, I found my way to roads that were beautifully quiet, gorgeously paved, and stock full of false flats. I was thinking that New Jersey should be renamed the False Flat state. This photo is a self-portrait taken around the time that I realized that I was unlikely to become lost again on my trip! I was sooo happy to be on roads that were well marked!
My poor leggins took a beating today. It's one thing to do 95 miles with a group of people who can help you work...it's another entirely to torture your poor body by yourself! But, it was a test of my mental strength as well as physical. Thank god for iPods - the musical talents of many got me through the miles today.
These are turkeys! There are TONS of wild turkeys running around South Jersey. It's a hunter's paradise!
Not the best shot - it was taken over my shoulder from a moving bike - but it illustrates why New Jersey is called the Garden State (rather than the False Flat State!). If there is one thing I LOVE about living here, it's that you can grown ANYTHING! If you put it in the ground, it is guaranteed to flourish here. The soil is great, the weather in the growing season is phenomenal, and we love our gardens!
In part, I took this because it's Landis avenue...as in Floyd. But, Landis avenue also runs into the city of Bridgeton, where the NJ State Champ race was last year, and will be again on the 28th. That's my next big race, and I saw today's excursion as preparation for the 56 mile race I'll have to do a week from Saturday. We'll see how it goes.
To wrap up...the ride was great. I ended up doing 93.3 miles in 5 hours 4 minutes with an average speed of 18.3 mph. Pretty good, I think.
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