Long workout = 37.9 miles

Left car at 12:33, returned at 3:22.

Route

* Leg 1: Started at intersection of Clinton-Macon Hwy and Mills-Macon Hwy. Went all the way West on Clinton-Macon. Went into town of Clinton via Tecumseh-Clinton Hwy, rode up and back on Main St, then continued South on Tecumseh-Clinton into Tecumseh. Was supposed to turn on Staib, but missed the turn. Stopped at a shopping center in Tecumseh; rested for 9 minutes;

* Leg 2: Back North on Tecumseh-Clinton Hwy, West onto Staib, all the way to Matthews; went South on Matthews all the way to M-50; went East on M-50, then South on Adrian; East on Russell, then South on North Raisin Center Hwy, and East on Sutton; rested in a farmer's field not too far down Sutton; rested for 13 minutes;

* Leg 3: Continued on Sutton, then North on Rogers Hwy; then West on M-50, and North on Tecumseh-Clinton; back via Macon to Clinton-Macon to car;

Stats

* Leg 1: 12.1 miles; 48 min on bike; 15.12 avg mph

* Leg 2: 13.1 miles; 50 min on bike; 15.72 avg mph

* Leg 3: 12.7 miles; 49 min on bike; 15.55 avg mph

Totals

* 37.9 miles

* 2 h 27 m on bike

* 15.47 avg mph

* total time 2 h 49 m

Food & Water Intake

My only big meal before riding was a pancake breakfast and some strong tea. The tea was probably a mistake given how soon I'd be riding because of its diuretic effect, from which I suffered during the first leg of my ride. I had not made any special effort to hydrate ahead of time, but nevertheless, I had to pee partway into my first 10 miles.

Right before the ride, I ate a banana. Then, at each rest stop, I ate one quarter of an almond-butter & jelly sandwich, and at least part of a banana. Then there were the handfuls of black raspberries off the bush at my second rest stop!

Interesting Happenings

I noticed as I was putting my gear together where I parked the car that I did not seem to have my cyclometer. The last place I remembered seeing it was when I placed it on a shelf in the garage. So I did not have the use of it during the ride. Then, much to my surprise, I discovered it in my bike bag as I was driving the route to count the miles manually!

Also, at my first rest stop, I noticed that I didn't seem to have my gloves. I hadn't remembered not having them, but they were definitely not with me. Later, as I was driving away from where I had parked the car, I noticed something dark flying off of the roof as I drove. I backtracked, and one by one, discovered both gloves in the road.

I needed to pee pretty badly by the time I stopped for the first time. The Little Caesar's did not have a bathroom, and I didn't feel like trekking all over the shopping center to find a bathroom, so I just did my business in some bushes behind the little Caesar's, as my way of thanking them for their (non) hospitality.

After that rest stop, when I was backtracking up Tecumseh-Clinton, I saw a plane that had just taken off from the ground. It seemed very big, even though I knew it was a small plane. Then I noticed a bunch of skydivers descending from the sky pretty quickly. I'd noticed a plane taking off as I was coming South, so maybe these were the skydivers that the plane had unloaded.

However, one by one, the divers seemed to take sudden plunges downward. Their parachutes seemed to suddenly turn sideways, and then would quickly accelerate towards the ground. It was as if their parachutes had caught a downdraft and they went straight down, almost in free-fall.

These landings were not at all like the gentle landings I had watched last week from a greater distance. I don't know whether being closer to the divers makes the descent seem faster, or whether they were indeed descending much faster, but I was worried for them, and had second thoughts about trying skydiving myself!

Along Matthews road, I noticed a very pretty, sort of rustic, horse farm set on some hills. In the very last pen was a mare and her new colt. The sign said "It's a colt!" just like you'd announce a baby boy. The sign gave the birth date as 6/30 and also the birth time (which I've forgotten). I stopped to admire the mother and her baby boy, and they were a handsome pair. Both were paint horses - large patches of brown on a white background.

In general I saw lots of horses on this trip. I saw one other mare/foal pair at another farm. In a second paddock, there was a lone horse that looked a lot like the mare, but I couldn't tell whether it was a stallion or not.

At my second rest stop, the farmers field, I again needed to heed nature's call. Right in front of me as I did my business, I noticed a bunch of ripe black raspberries. Fortunately I noticed them just in time to carefully avoid splashing them. I ate quite a few berries, since there were bushes all along the edge of the field. I felt a little guilty, since I didn't know whether the owners of the field had been hoping to eat these berries themselves. But it didn't stop me!

As I was heading back North on Rogers, I came across the grisly mess of a pack of seven dead raccoons smeared all over the road. Most were adults, but there was at least one baby. I'd never seen such a large group of roadkill in one place. I usually don't think too much about a slain animal here and there because it's so common, but this seemed especially sad.

Impressions of Ride

I didn't have time today for a 60 mile ride, so I knew the ride would be shorter. However, it seemed like I also wasn't up to a 60 mile ride, anyhow. The headwinds from the West were very strong, and although I primarily hit these while cycling due West, I also got some effects from going North on Rogers, which didn't provide much cover.

However, headwinds aside, maybe the previous two days' rides cut into today's energy, or maybe I don't have as much energy earlier in the day (I left earlier than I usually do for long rides - I've usually got two meals under my belt). But who knows - I just wasn't up to a really long ride.

Since I wasn't using my cyclometer, I couldn't keep an eye on my speeds, but the basic math above shows that my average mph was not super-high on any of the legs, but it was relatively consistent.

Many of the roads on my route were not especially delightful scenery-wise. I had chosen this route from the map by trying to use roads I hadn't been on, as a way of exploring. Clinton-Macon is a lot prettier between Britton Hwy and Macon than it is between Macon and Tecumseh-Clinton.

Tecumseh-Clinton is never very attractive. Matthews was quite lovely, but M-50 is obviously not a great place for cycling. Adrian and Russell are not especially attractive, and Raisin Center Hwy is not too bad, but not spectacular. Sutton is pretty nice, but Rogers is just very straight, and there are a few pleasant sights, but nothing special. Macon is a pretty road.

So all-in-all, the ride I took on Sunday June 27 was a much prettier ride. I would not recommend todays route to anyone with a desire for scenery along with those long miles!