A big week

This was my vacation week. Nancy and I had intended to go camping, but she got busy at work and we couldn't. So I managed some runningchunk-relevant activities during my time off.

On Thursday, I did a "micro-tour" on my Surly Long Haul Trucker.

I put a few things in my panniers and took off up US-41.

The wind. Wow. The ride up to Calumet was nice. Wide, smooth shoulders, separated from the lanes by rumble strips so that I could hear any cars about to run me over. I felt like continuing on, but stopped to eat a granola bar at the Holiday gas station.

As I hit M-203, the wind hit me. It's mostly downhill to Hancock, but I had to crank even the steepest declines. Seriously, it was windy. But this was about how my bike and I handled a (lightly) loaded ride, and that's what happens.

Only 36 miles, but it felt like 60. With the wind now at my back, I chased a few cars through Hancock, hitting my maximum speed for the ride right on the lift bridge. I didn't see the sign, officer.

So, running. A total of 21 miles this week, capped by today's 12-mile run. This was the best I've felt after a long run, and that even after running yesterday and my micro-tour the day before. Steel-cut oats, jam, and toast for breakfast; a Hammer Gel at 5, 7.5, and 10 miles, and the usual DT hamburger for recovery. I'd wanted to do the run in 2:20 or less, but I was happy with the time given the number of hills we hit.

And somehow I still had time this week for other stuff, like finishing the build-up of my new commuter MTB. It was supposed to be just a frame swap from my old too-small GT Ricochet but, well, scope creep.

Ain't it pretty?