A bicycle leaning against an irregularly shaped blue sign with stylized images of fireworks

Foreboding Skies

Yesterday I had grandiose plans of riding 130+ kilometers today, getting a nice long ride in before the rain forecast for tomorrow. Instead I slept poorly, set out a couple of hours later than expected, and then cut the ride short when the dark skies dampened my enthusiasm (oh, and I was sore and tired).

With Kuroko’s new handlebar tape and bag, it almost felt like New Bike Day. I’m pleased how the bike looks without the saddlebag and the headlight stuck on the handlebars, and pleased overall with the new tape despite my grousing. (Yes, I still think a professional could have done a much better job.)

As expected, there wasn’t room in the handlebar bag for Nana’s world-famous onigiri, so I carried them in a musette. I haven’t used one in quite a while and it took an hour or so of riding before I could ignore the straps hanging from my shoulder and crossing my chest. Once I got used to it, it was fine. When I finished the last onigiri at Shinsuna, I rolled the musette up into its little pouch and strapped it to the seatpost for the ride home.

Some blue sky emerged the moment I left the river behind me. It lifted my spirits a bit, but I was still tired and sore overall. As Lindsey’s cousin noted, I was looking for an excuse to slack off. I continued on homeward at a loping pace, just trying to put the kilometers behind me as I pictured the waiting hot bath.

GPS record of bicycle ride
Foreboding Skies

I made it home just 4 1/2 hours after departure. On a moving time of 3:00:42, I averaged 20.7km/h. That’s a lot better than I expected given my overall lethargy. I’d been complaining about the wind on the Arakawa, but it didn’t hinder me overall. I was well over 20km/h for the 5km splits when I didn’t stop for a break, and the fastest was 24km/h for 5km.


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