Variety

Got up a little earlier than yesterday, excited at the prospect of dry roads and sunshine. I'd set my expectations high, planning yet another combination route that would take me out northeast of the city into USDA research territory before heading back west along the northern rim of DC.

Put the iPod in shuffle mode and set off in the dark. I was sure to have my headlamp handy, which I needed for the first hour. I say sometimes that my iPod has "moods," and that the shuffle function serves me up different flavors depending on the day. Today's flavor seemed to complement my hypercaffeinated state, with both dancey tunes and upbeat rambling bluegrass numbers. Sun came up by the time I got to Greenbelt, and the daylight breaking over the fog in the rolling pastures there gave me goosebumps. The best part of the ride took place between miles 13 and 35 or so. This section was mostly on back roads, traffic free.

When I got back closer to the beltway, traffic picked up again and it was a hump back west that seemed to kind of drag on. I even contemplated taking shortcuts a few times, mostly because I'd gotten a little bored and tired of the traffic, but also because I felt the need to get to work already. I stuck it out, as usual, and wound up with 60 miles in about 3:37 door-to-door. My odometer is on the fritz, so factoring out the breaks for nutrition inflow and outflow, it was about 3:22 saddle time.

There seems to be some sort of epic rainstorm headed our way, so tomorrow I'm planning on checking out a spin class. I'm surprisingly looking forward to something different.