A very blustery day

Mileage: 314
Days: 28
Remaining: 62
Average Daily Mileage: 11.2

It's hard to ride in Terry Hershey Park.

Sunday morning a cold front blew through. I rode on Sunday afternoon out west almost to Fry Road. The wind from the NNW was so strong I could barely ride. It was a wild and gusty wind, whipping my handlebars back and forth. Running south along Barker-Clodine I was easily going 30 mph at times. I could see the gusts in the trees, and much like when sailing I could "catch" the gusts, when all became silent as my speed matched that of the wind and the endless noise became silent, swoooosh, flying along... I think the coolness and dryness explains the glut of people out in the park today. After my recent crash I'm consistent with my vocalizing as I approach pedestrians, but many don't listen. I'm really terrified. Sometimes it looks like they hear but then when I pass them they let out an exclamation of surprise. I'm really sorry, but I said "rider back!" at least three times as I came up. I prefer to ride the high road, the dirt roads north of the paved path, but there the peds are almost as bad, maybe worse. They're militant about holding their ground. Oncoming walkers stride side-by-side and they don't give an inch. It seems to be a battle sometimes, walkers vs. riders, and I've been on both sides, and I know many riders are very inconsiderate.

I'm planning to race this Sunday, for the first time in 11 years. The race is at Double Lake, north of Houston near Coldspring. D and M and I went there recently for some Burley trailer single track riding. It'll be just for fun, and miles. There is an upcoming geology field trip to the Amarillo area, they have a 50-mile trail run there. Perhaps I'll alternate running with riding. 20 miles ride, 7 mile run. I went and looked at a patch of land for sale a few miles from my house, $60k for 1/4 acre. In a subrural area, surrounded by cows. That's a big city lot but a small country one. I'm passing on that one.

I recently finished reading the book "A Thread Across the Ocean" -- highly recommended. Not a long book, but a compulsive read, and a true story. The thread in question is the first transatlantic telegraph cable.

So I've ridden 314 miles in 28 days. That's not any great feat. My brother once road about 250 miles in a single day.