Got to ride home from work again today – perfect temperature and a wild assortment of winds. At some point in the ride I had wind out of all four major directions! It was hard for me to project what I would encounter on my commute because every 5-10 miles it changed!

The most memorable part of today’s ride occurred while riding up County Line Rd – a mile or two after it crossed Colorado Highway 7. I smelled the alfalfa before I saw it. A sweet fragrance that drew me in. It made me think of something Todd said on the day we did the America By Bicycle scavenger hunt. We were looking for alfalfa and he suggested we stop at a store and pick some up from the veggie department. For a moment I was a little baffled — then I realized he was talking about alfalfa sprouts. The kind you might put on your sandwich as a garnish! Having a bunch of horses that eat small amounts of alfalfa as well as copious amounts of grass hay — IO knew that we’d been riding next to alfalfa fields for the last several days and all we had to do was stop and pick a sprig from one of the gazillion plants! Too funny.

I don’t take the foothills for granted either. For most of my commute they are off to my right or left, but there are stretches when I am heading straight for them. Can’t beat the views!

No Garmin again today. Seems like if I let it sit for any length of time the battery runs down — even when I think I have it turned off. I’ve got to figure out what the deal is because I really like the data it provides. In the meantime, glad I keep my analog backup on board Scooter. Sure came in handy again today.

Ride Statistics:

Time: 2:02:03
Distance: 34.1 miles
Ave Speed: 16.7 mph
Max Speed 35.3 mph
ODO: 3744 miles