McClinchy Mile 2004

I rode 81 miles on the McClinchy Mile bicycle ride Saturday.
Gardner Cohen wrote up his experience on the 47 mile, in a much thorough and thoughtful way than I feel I could do.

The first 23 miles of the 47-mile loop were really easy. Using that as my gauge of the ride’s rating of “moderate/strenuous,” I decided to venture further on the second, 30-mile loop. About mile 34, my seat was wobbling. I fixed that, and started peeling off some of my layers since this portion was much hillier and the sun was out.

By the halfway point, I was pretty tired, but with no “out,” I plugged on up the hills at a snail’s pace. Somewhere near mile 70, there was a side-trek to avoid going up a large hill. I misread the turn, and ended going back up another hill. On the second pass, I figured out that the Dan Henry indicated to turn at the next left. Better labeling on the map would have helped out a lot.

There were still a dozen or so cars in the parking lot when I returned. After stowing my bike, I went to find a vanilla milkshake. I drove home, snarfed down a plate of pasta and went to bed at 8:30 p.m.

I’m still a little sore, mostly in the upper back, but eeked out a short 15-mile loop around my neighborhood before the next rain system moves through later today. Although it’s early in the season, I’m a little wary of the one-day STP coming up in July. That’s a lot of miles.