Turbo Tuesday Metric of Gravel

Monday night we decided it would be a good idea to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and go out for a long one on Wednesday. So, wednesday morning we rolled out to Paw Paw with about 60-70 miles in mind. A great route was given to us by Chad, and we really enjoyed all of the gravel and hills (no hills were photographed apparently, but trust me) that he found for us.

I wore a cheap pair of wool/leather gloves from Farm & Fleet and my hands were warm all day.

A golf cart appeared out of nowhere and we drafted behind it for a bit.

Rest stop at the local Casey's.

We even found some snow, or rather, some ice.

Jake after a good climb. La Kruz approved.

Derek's been training for Trans Iowa on his singlespeed Singular Peregrine, and rode strong the entire time. I think he has an excellent chance of finishing.

Stopped to refuel with food and Budweiser at a bar in Paw Paw called Poorboy's at the halfway point. Great service, great fried shrimp, $1.50 beer.

We were greeted by some friendly farm dogs that, to our surprise, did not attempt to eat us.

Thanks for sharing this delicious Coffee Stout, Derek!

We ended the ride with a glorious sunset. My knees were killing me by the end of the ride and I was barely hanging in there. I realized that my saddle must have slipped and was just too low. The low saddle combined with the wind and hills and fact that I haven't done a ride of this length in a while really beat me up... But it was good and I really needed that. I hope to take advantage of this mild winter a lot more and get some more long rides in soon.

Total distance from DeKalb to Paw Paw and back= about 65mi Time riding= about 5 hours. That's all I know because I lost my cycling computer and don't plan on getting a new one. Who needs 'em!