When my cell phone rang and I heard the sound of traffic on the other line, I knew Joel (why Joel rides) was serious about cycling! I’d briefly awakened, a few hours earlier that morning, to the sound of rainfall outside and after whispering a few curses, fell back asleep.

When the alarm clock went off, I saw wet streets and feared my Saturday morning ride was going to be canceled. That is, until I talked to Joel and realized he was already 3/4 of the way to Bullis Park where we were planning to meet.

Sure enough, area streets were slick and dangerous but with Joel making his big return to cycling after an absence of several months, we were determined! A quick look at doppler radar on my Blackberry showed a radar picture that was pretty clean.

We decided to meet at my house and carpool to the Park ‘N Ride at IH-10 and 1604. We hoped we’d find dry streets in Northwest SA. Indeed, we did!

We hit the road and headed north on the access road of IH-10. Soon we were in a great clip with an average speed of 19-22mph. We were flying down the road. Every once in awhile Joel would shout out about how much fun he was having.

We took a brief tour on the roads in The Rim shopping mall and completed about a 11 mile northwest trek before turning around…

…and heading directly into a stiff headwind! Ah, the 22mph speeds we’d enjoyed northbound were the product of a nice tailwind. Despite the gusty wind and the snails pace of 12-13mph, we made it back to the start with exactly 21 miles to boot.

Congratulations on your return to cycling, Joel! It was great to share the road with you!