Ride 26 - 45

Turn around 22.51 mi. 9/14/25 dwm

Sunday was a perfect day to ride - it was warm, not too hot and virtually no wind. I thought for a while I might have a breeze at my back because I wasn't working that hard and expected one when I turned around.

To my surprise, there was no head wind, making it possible to maintain the same speed going home that I had on the way out.

Because it was an NFL Sunday and the Brewers were playing, I wanted to make it a quick ride. According to the bike computer, I averaged 17.4 for the first 22.51 miles and 17.2 for 45 miles.

The route I chose was familiar, Verona to McFarland and part of the way to Lake Kegonsa State Park. Fish Camp County Park is where I hit half-way point at the west end of a long boardwalk.

There were dozens of people on the trails walking, running, and riding. I was glad to be among them. The day was a step back into summer with a high around 80; a nice warm up from the early fall weather that dropped over the upper Midwest the previous two weeks.

An early sign of fall. 9/14/25 dwm

  Because I took the same route out and back, it was interesting to feel the difference between riding 15 miles an hour and 17.2.

  Most of the time I average 15 miles per hour or a little better depending on wind and hills, which would mean a 45-mile ride should take three hours.

 Just a couple more revolutions per minute more on the pedal, chain, and sprockets ups the speed incrementally. Bike speed varied dramatically from under 10 mph up hill to 28 mpg downhill.

  I was 23 minutes and 11 seconds faster covering 45 miles at 17.2 than 15. When I stopped in front of the garage after 45.14 miles the time on the bike computer read 2 hours, 36-minutes, and 49 seconds.

  Little increments did the job, making the ride a quick 45-mile journey that got me back with plenty of afternoon left to enjoy.

You should know that's the time spent on the bike, it doesn't count a pit stop, two stops for pictures, and grabbing a donut from Kwik Trip, but those are the things that happen on every ride. After 26 rides this year, my overall mileage is 1,380. At this point, it looks like there should still be weeks of good biking weather left.