This week in Bike Commuting: National Bike Challenge Completed

Monday and Tuesday were the last two days of the National Bike Challenge and the race was on.  I was neck and neck with this one woman on the New Milford River Trail Team.  She did a hundred miler on Sunday that put her in the lead when all of a sudden this couple comes out of no where and the wife takes over the lead.  So it was game one for the last two days of the challenge.

For me to stay in the race it meant two days, back to back 30 mile round trip commutes and with the waning sunlight in the afternoons it meant two mornings riding my 20 mile Castle Hill Route. Monday morning was kind of over cast with a little sun breaking through but nice temps.  In the after noon it was back to short sleeves again.

National Bike Challenge

Field of Flags in the rainy mist

I was on the fence as to whether or not I would ride to work this morning.  The forecast called for more rain like on Wednesday to continue till around noon.  That was definitely going to be a deal breaker.  At 6 this morning, though, the rain had stopped but then started up again but looking at the radar map I decided it was going to stop around 7 AM and I should be fine.

I was perhaps two tenths of mile from home when I ran into the mist and it stayed misty the whole way to work.  It was a thick mist, too, so by the time I did get to the office, I was soaked.  Looks like Doppler Radar doesn't pick up the mist.

Toward the end of the commute it also got a lot warmer and so I really began to sweat with what I was wearing.

There was a lot of wet gunk on the Cross Check so I made sure if anything were to drip off it wouldn't ruin the carpet by using a few lunch trays and bags.

Today is the start of the National Bike Challenge so I had to ride to work this morning no matter what.  I also new that it was going to be in the 70s on the way home and it would be beautiful riding weather, too.

I tried a new route home today.  Rather than riding Rt 202 back towards Danbury like a I usually do for extra miles I went up Old Hawleyville Rd and then road over to Whisconnier and climbed that fun hill.  Then descend halfway down Rt 25 and cut back Old Hawleyville Rd via Farrel Rd.  That goes over the Housatonic Rail Road tracks and the last time I went through here I got some cool train pictures.

I thought it wasn't going to happen today because I could see nothing down the tracks when I first stopped.

But then I heard the train

Unfortunately, it never got out of the yard

I rewarded myself for a great ride!