Felt Damn Good

It was hot this morning, humid, and no air moving. I got home after breakfast and picking up held mail. The power was off in the area. So, I loaded the road bike on the car, changed into a cycling kit, and headed to the bike shop for a ride.

As I neared the bike shop, I noticed that the stop lights were not working. Zack confirmed that they have a power outage, too. Word was that the whole area was dark. (The bike shop is about 10+ miles from my house!)

I still needed to get on my bike. It was too long since I last rode (almost a week!) My helmet needed some repair parts, so bought a new brain bucket. When they have the repair parts, the old helmet can be my spare.

Headed out from the bike shop. Damn, it felt so good to be back on the bike! I had one of those emotional moments on the bike. Finally I settled down for the ride.

My first stop was the Lake Manawa Mountain Bike trails. The road is now dry (but the park has a barricade across the road). The trails are still underwater. The top photo shows the water at the exit from the long side.

Still feeling pretty good, I headed on over to the Western Historic Trails Center. After stopping in to sign the guest book, it was time for a granola bar and bottle of G2. Rode up to the levee to check out the water there. The photo tp the right shows that the trail dropping off from the levee, heading towards the river, is underwater.

I have been told that the trail (and lower parking lot) is underwater at Harrahs. Word is that Big Lake is also flooded.

Nothing to note on the way back except for work along Mosquito Creek. When I got to the construction area there, I had to walk the bike because they had sprayed oil over the pavement in preparation to re-paving. That slowed me down a bit as for average speed.

Still ended up with just over 12 mph for the 20.5 mile ride. Felt Damn Good!