Bike to Work, day 82

Knee pain, a lack of sleep, and a desire to not sweat (no time for a shower), dictated a slow ride in, today.

25:09, 6.5mi
59ºF, Odo 2117mi
avg 15.5mph, max 24.4mph

While riding up my least favorite hill, in my granny gear, I came up with several new nicknames for it.  At the beginning I kept my momentum, but very quickly my knee told me it wanted out of this deal.  I climbed the hill and came up with spinnoffs of ‘heartbreak hill.’  My favorites are: “Housebroken hill” and “the Obnoxious overpass.”

I dislike this hill for several reasons.

• It’s weak.  It’s not even a significant hill.  There’s no accomplishment here.  I think most people believe it’s flat.
• It’s gradual.  If it was steep, I could just get it over with, even keep momentum.  But no, it’s an energy sucking vortex of boredom.  Resign yourself to sub 14mph speeds and just deal with it.
• Intersection. There is an intersection in the middle of this hill.  I like to keep my momentum on a climb, and especially on a descent, but I always have to be careful here.  My free-fall is interrupted, my climbing momentum is halted.  Curse you, Obnoxious Overpass!
• Debris. Someone decided to scatter asphalt from the intersection to the bottom of the hill.  Now it’s all in the bike lane.  I don’t want to slip when I’m riding uphill, but I really don’t want to slip when I’m flying downhill.

On the other hand, when I’m going back down it, this hill is “that cool hill where I hit 42mph!”

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Again, I just had nothing to put into this ride.

24:00, 6.5mi
79ºF, Odo 2124mi
avg 16.3mph, max 30.1mph

I feel worn out and I don’t know if I should rest more, eat more, or just train harder.  I know I need to rest before the century, though.

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Unrelated note: Google has a new browser in development.  It looks extraordinarily well thought out, too.  When did software development get cool?!