The Big Four-Oh

E will sometimes gently remind me that I'm almost 40--it's only fair because I always add a year to her age and, well, it also has the virtue of being true.  I'll be 39 this August, though some languages look ahead and would note that I'll actually be in my 40th year.  This time I'm pretty happy to stick with the cultural chauvinism and my native tongue since it doesn't make me feel quite so old.

Anyway, I had in mind a goal of getting to Johnson, which is the home of Johnson State College.  As it turns out, there was some construction backing up traffic just as I was getting to town, so I did my turnaround about a half mile from where I'd intended.  Still, that little jaunt got me to just over 40 miles on just under 40-year old legs.

It was a very pleasant ride, temp in the 60s, sunny, a light breeze.  I like this route because it's got a nice mix of flats and hills through a lot of farm country--I see alpacas, miniature ponies, donkeys, cows, goats and all sorts of wildlife to boot.  It's also interesting because sometimes the ride is punctuated by sheer terror as I see a semi or a manure truck barreling toward me in the mirror when I've got about 3 inches of room between me and a fall into the river below.

Today's tally: 40.3 miles at 15.3 mph.  For those of you following the Bikeathon, that brings the total mileage to 125.5 and just under the halfway point.  Thanks to everybody who has already contributed a total of 214 bucks to the Pink Cause!  And there's still plenty of time for people people to throw some coin in the kitty...

ntodd