Ice Cream Ride

I've been a little busy in the last few days and have been unable to update as often as I would prefer. This past weekend along with other members of our team, I participated in the Medina County Cycling Club's Ice Cream ride. We received disturbing news about Tammy one of our team members with chronic Leukemia. So we all rode for Tammy that day. We're all praying for you Tammy! You're going to beat this thing!!! The ride was a scheduled 66 miles through the hills and farmland of Medina county. I say scheduled because I encountered a small problem on the very start of the route. This was the first of these that I've done and didn't know how the roads/turns were going to be marked. So I missed the first turn, but managed to get back on the right road almost immediately. Then I missed the second turn which took me WAY out of my way at which point I started to get pretty upset that the roads weren't marked. (little did I know that they were clearly marked with bright orange paint on the roads!) So I pulled out my map and managed to get back on track. When I saw the actual first turn and the orange markings on the pavement I felt a little foolish. There were a couple of rest stops that include free ice cream, cookies, bananas, fruit, Gatorade and water. I tell you at the 30 mile mark I was grateful to get a little nourishment and a minor respite. I took off again through the beautiful country roads of Medina county. The weather cooperated on Saturday and it was a beautiful day for riding. Nice and cool and sunny. The wind got to be a little tedious at times but overall it was a pleasant ride. I managed to miss another turn right near the end of the ride. It was clearly marked and I saw the markings but the turn appeared to lead you into a small parking lot and I could not for the life of me figure out why we would go into a parking lot. When I got to the top of the next hill and to a stop sign I read my directions and figured out that apparently there is a path at the end of that parking lot (which there is). So I turned back around, found my way to the path and made it back to the finish. So in typical Bill fashion I managed to turn a scheduled 66 mile bike ride into a 73 mile bike ride. I was extremely pleased that I manged to average 15.9 mph on the ride which is pretty close to my goal of 16.6 for the Sea Gull. I think riding on a flat surface will help my speed a little. I also believe that the more hill riding I do will help my speed so I fully intend to kick up the hill rides a notch. The rest of my weekend was pleasant too. Got the lawn mowed and the garden weeded and taken care of. Went to my parent's house for my dad's 74th and the family was there. We had a good time and I was certainly ready for bed when I got home.