My addition skills are better that this, I hope! Fortunately I don\’t need math skills to be able to ride.

Today I added another mile or so to my outbound route. My average speed was actually a bit faster than last Sunday\’s, and with similar wind conditions.

Here\’s what I did that was different: I worked on 30-second intervals of  pedaling a lot faster. At one point I did a full minute of pedaling hard into the wind. I hit a peak cadence of 120 rpm, and without bouncing in the saddle. That effort also got my heart rate up to its max.

I stayed on the small ring a lot. My left ankle still wants to hyperextend itself, and it\’s easier to keep it from doing so if I\’m in a relatively easy gear. Easier gears also make it easier to pedal faster!

It was cooler than I really like, but cold weather is more tolerable on a sunny day. Of course I wore leg warmers, and the pair I used today has about had it. One of them has a run in it for some time; and today I snagged the other on something and put a hole it in!

To that nuisance I can add having had to take a detour to get home. A train was just sitting there, blocking my usual crossing. The lead locomotive was more than 3/4 miles from home, and the end was several blocks past the crossing.

That meant riding over a very bumpy street to get back home. Oh, well. That did give me an extra half-mile or so to add to this year\’s mileage total. I like that kind of addition!