Gravel, rain, and sand

Wednesday when I got home I checked the weather one last time. 10% chance of rain. Lets get it.

I headed out from home on the TCX. After a stint on some pavement I reached the gravel of 110th street. Then it was a very straight shot for the next 10 miles. There is a short section where the road kicks north for a bit and then back south....but the rest was very straight. Just a lot of packed gravel with a few stops signs thrown in. 

I was feeling pretty good, so I was pushing my pace a bit. I was trying to keep my average up, with the idea that I had a tailwind. I was riding West and the weather seemed to be coming from the East. With my average speed holding steady I started to believe that the entire way back would be brutal. 

Just after Mile 13 is a lake. Its called Lower Scott Lake. Pretty small, but the first sings of life I had seen in a while. Most of the property out here is state land, so not a lot of houses. Its a good ride because there are hardly any cars either. 

I made the turn north and started to think about 112th and my trip back. The temperature tanked. Looking up the road I could tell that it was starting to rain. I literally rode into the 10% rainstorm that was forecast. I was as far away from home as I would be on this ride....and it was raining. It started as a drizzle, which wasn't bad. But before too long the drops got bigger. The rock solid roads were building puddles. Still heading north I saw the turn to head back towards home.

The cold rain continued for another 10 minutes before I finally started to ride out of it. After a short haul East, I was surprised by a Southern turn. Must have missed it when I created the route. So now, in the rain and heading South I was starting to wonder if I was on the right path. Before too long the rain cleared and the roads started to dry back out. 

The rip down 112th is strange. There was no headwind, but it feels like a false flat. Maybe I was just starting to run out of legs. I had been pushing for a long time at this point. Still, I kept my body steady and pressed on. Around mile 20 I took another turn north towards 115th. As soon I turned back East I remembered why I don't like this section. It is a seasonal road that is mostly sand. I found the most solid area I could find in the middle of the road and just forged ahead. 

While my Panaracer tires work well on gravel, they tend to dig into hard sand. This stretch of 115th seasonal road was giving me issues. My speed started to suffer here. All I could do was keep pushing with what I had left. Finally I reached another intersection where the seasonal road ends and the roads get better. Still not great, but the closer I got towards home the better they get. 

Eventually the gravel gives way to blacktop for the remainder of the ride. There is a bit of climbing here, but nothing major. I just kept pushing away until I was close to home. 

Overall, a solid 27 miles of gravel. The rain sucked, but thankfully was short. The sandy section was rough, but didn't kill me. The route is pretty flat, so the legs don't really get any rest. You just have to pedal for nearly the whole way. I held a pretty good average speed that I am happy with. It was good to get out.