Low 40s, gusty W wind 15-20 mph, so headed for the Conway hills to get a little shelter. Worked pretty well. Still lots of wind, but changing all the time, which is way better than out in the open fields.
Nice ride. Saw several runners out (all females), a few people walking, all a friendly wave or greeting. Not a single other biker.
Reminds me, yesterday, out at Quabbin, at
mile 17 I went out on a little point just to see if any wildlife was around. The wind was howling, whitecaps on the water. No wildlife to be seen, but there was a young man walking along the shore, heading in my direction, maybe 100 yards away.
Curious as to why someone would be out in rather unpleasant conditions, I waited until he got close and then said hello and asked where he was headed.
He answered, and I somewhat understood, the problem being that he stammered so badly that,. well, I guess you feel awkward and uncomfortable and somewhat embarrassed and not really wanting to extend the conversation because it seemed like the effort on his part was significant and the output was extremely meager.
So when it was my turn I quickly said something like I was getting cold and had to keep moving and goodbye. But not at all sure what one ought to do in such circumstances. I imagine, had it been a person with normal language skills, the conversation might have continued on briefly, because the fact was that I was getting cold and did need to keep moving. But I really didn't know what to do.
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4,711 miles so far for the year (target 5,000, or maybe it should be 5,200, or 5,214?). And 284K feet climbed (target is 290,290).