I was about to drive to yoga when the weather on the 8’s began broadcasting. It was raining but the prediction was for the sun to show itself after and eight day hiatus in just a couple of hours. That got me into the garage to check out the “made summer ready” road bike. I’ll keep this short. I bought some medium high end tires last year Michelin’s that I really liked. They are not your standard shaped tires and at first glance can be intimidation. I had a bit of a problem getting the bead set on the front tire. So much so that I destroyed three tubes. A pinch flat, a blowout and and blown valve. Two were while working on the bike and the pinch flat happened, according to my GPS device, 382 feet from my driveway. It all worked out finally.
I also have to compliment the local TV weather people. They called the wind speed, direction, rain and the sun to within minutes. Channel 10 out of Providence has been really good with their forecasts. They don’t make predictions, they tell us what is going to happen and I can’t recall a forecast that they got wrong.
The forecast today was for the sun to show itself around 4 PM. I left the house at 4:15 under a bright sunny sky. The wind out of the north made things difficult for the first 14 miles of the ride. So much so that my biggest downhill, where I consistently coast in excess of 25 MPH, today’s wind forced me to pedal in order to maintain 15 MPH.
This route is all country riding and I had the roads pretty much to myself. 
Normally I cross paths with quite a few others on bikes, especially on the weekend. Today it was only one group of three.
I did have to stop and scoot a family of ducks across a road that is relatively busy and fast. The one car that came by as they were crossing did slow for them, but they returned to the starting side. I dismounted, got behind them and chased them across. They seemed to know I was on their side because they stopped, turned and gave me a couple of honks of gratitude.
A full week of sunshine and temps near 70 F is in the forecast. This retired bike rider will definitely get in some serious miles this week.
A Midnight Rider 