What amazing weather we've had in DC in January. It couldn't be due to global warming (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Yesterday, January 15th, the high was 68 degrees. I took off at 10am after a medium breakfast. I was not carrying any water because the bike I was riding doesn't have a bottle cage installed yet. It's a 70's Japanese bike built for the Japanese market. It's totally commuter friendly: FULL fenders, front AND rear racks, big comfortable tires and a cute little bell mounted on the stem. I haven't weighed it yet, but it's definitely 25 lbs or more.

I set my pace very easy because I knew it would be a long trek after 2 weeks of not riding. The day was a holiday to most and traffic was on the lighter side. It's normally a very busy road, but I started after the normal rush anyway. I did have one driver squeal to a stop behind me. The rest of the ride down was fairly uneventful. When I shifted the front derailleur to the small chainring it had frequent trouble clicking into gear. I stopped at Performance to have them check it out. They generously squeezed me in and didn't find anything wrong.

I felt very strong. The ride thru the park was very pleasant. During the park ride I came across a guy on a Gunnar road bike. We jockeyed a little. I adjusted to his pace and we began talking. He was heading into Silver Spring like myself. We talked as we climbed out of the park into downtown Silver Spring and I had plenty of wind. I told him the history of my bike. He said he never under estimates a biker with downtube shifters.

I went to the office for a couple of hours. I drank some fresca and chilled for a while. About 2:30 I was on the road back toward home. I took a different route. I spent more time in the park. This meant really slowing down because I had to use some of the trail. By the time I got to the halfway point I bonked. I didn't realize how hungry I was. I went to McD's and spent $8.50. Double-quarter pounder meal with a Filet-o-Fish got my blood sugar/protein level up. I went to adjust my stuff on the rear rack and I noticed the bolts were loose. One had completely come out. I tightened the one that was still there. My energy level was coming up. It didn't happen right away, so conservatively I went back to a Metro station to take the subway a few miles out. I got there and the train was not on a holiday schedule even tho it was MLK day. They wouldn't allow the bike on the train for 3 more hours.

I got on the bike and headed on. My body was feeling stronger and I continued on. The road was fairly level and the weather was spectacular for any time of year, especially January. I wasn't as strong as my trip downtown, but I was gaining steam. I was gaining strength. I knew my muscles wouldn't endure if I pushed it, so I kept a conservative pace going. Occasionally I would need to sprint to merge into traffic. Each time I did I wondered if I'd pushed too hard. I kept most of my riding in the high speed spin range. I made it home with very tired muscles, but no headache like I often have after such a long ride after a 2 week break.