Flat and Fast

I did a lot of hilly rides in July and August so as a break and to get a long ride in I scheduled a Pineland Cruise for today. I was hopping to attract a good crowd and maybe get a couple of the Florida flatlanders to join. Maybe it was the holiday weekend or the possibility of rain but I only get a few regulars for the ride (Laura, Chris and Jack).

It was a cool morning and was barely 60 degrees when we set out. The route I created was as flat and simple as I could make it. We went out at a good pace and got to the first rest stop in the Wawa in Browns Mill in quick order. There aren't many place to stop in the Pinelands so we had to stop a mile 18 because the next possible stop was in Vincetown at 45 miles.

We made a quick bathroom stop in Lebanon State forest where we I checked the radar and saw the rain just south of where we were. It was headed west but if it moved north a little we would get wet.

For the next 20 miles there was some spirits of rain then some light rain as we skirted the northern edge of the storm. We really didn't too wet at all and once we turned north to Smithville we left the rain behind us.

When we pulled into the Olde World Bakery we had a 17mph average. It was still below 70 degrees and felt a little cold. We had just over 50 miles in and I was feeling strong so I pushed the pace a little to see if we could maintain our average.

We cranked along as fast as we could and made quick work of the last 14 miles back to Bordentown. We slowed down a little through Bordentown but I still finished up with a 16.95 mph avg which is the fastest ride of the year for me.

Although we got a little wet the weather was really perfect for a fast flat ride and it felt good to get a long ride in at a fast pace.