road biking 4:42:07 [3] 108.96 mi (2:35 / mi)
After having quite a few days off due to illness and circumstance, I was ready for a workout. But I should have planned to leave a little earlier before the hottest part of the day. Wasn't sure if the heat would get to me so I didn't have a total distance in mind.
Headed out to Washago at around 1 pm and planned to hit that little restaurant where we often stop, for a cold glass of chocolate milk. But they were closed. So I popped across the road for a very cold milkshake, I had just battled some serious headwind from Houseys Rapids on and I was feelin' the heat.
After sweating profusely in public, despite the air conditioning, and chatting with some friendly motorcyclists who had ridden from Horseshoe Valley to Minden, I headed back outdoors.
This turned out to be a bad stretch even though I now had the wind at my back. I guess the first couple of hours to Washago I didn't feel it as much with the wind in my face. After bout 5 k, I stopped and grabbed my mp3 player, This was definitely a good distraction.
In Housey's Rapids I biked into Bass Lake park, took off my shoes and socks, emptied my jersey pockets, and dove in the water. What a feeling! (although the lake felt like soup.) I relaxed on the picnic table bench but realized I was in danger of falling asleep, and getting eaten by mosquitoes. So back on the bike...
The next intersection was at Barkway rd and Doe lake road where we normally turn left and head back to Gravenhurst. But I must have been delirious from the heat, cause I turned right and headed to Uffington!
What a hilly stretch! But also a lot more shade. I could tell my legs were getting tired because I stood up in my pedals for every hill.
I made it to the store in Uffington, on highway 118, 5 minutes before closing. I think I would have cried if it was closed. I had been thinking of some ice cold water for a while now. I sat on the bench outside in the shade and guzzled, plus filled my bottles and watched all the traffic coming to a stop due to the accident 100 meters up the road where someone had flown into the ditch. Gingerly, I passed the cars , on the left, and the ambulance and headed west toward highway 11.
Now, usually, we would take Gravenhurst Parkway back into town, but again, the almost heatstroke affected my decision making and I proceded to Muskoka Beach rd. Although the fact that it is a gorgeous, SHADY, road, probably had something to do with it.
Had a little sit in the shade on the Beach road, but was careful not to lay down, so motorists wouldn't think I had crashed. The rest of the ride was hot, windy and uneventful.
Once I got home Larry asked me " What on earth possessed you to ride 110 K solo on the hottest day of the summer?"
;)