156th ride

This evening, a mild war was going on inside myself. After a moderately busy day (early church this morning, followed by an hour's drive to my Mom's, and then a further trip with her, my brother JB, sister-in-law Darlene, and niece Courtney to visit the cemeteries in Morenci and Hudson where my Dad and other family members are buried, and then the return to Ann Arbor), a part of me just wanted to throw in the towel and skip a ride tonight. But I knew I should ride, and hated to waste the glorious weather (a sunny, calm, 78° evening). So I set off on the same route I took yesterday, praying for wisdom and good judgment about what I should do—prepared to settle for a short ride, but a part of me really hoping to be able to go a bit farther today.

In the end, the "farther" hopes won out. As I rode easily, and without trouble, I continued to monitor myself to see whether I should turn back or keep going, but in the end went marginally farther than yesterday and at a slightly better pace (10.75 miles in 51 minutes, as compared to 8.4 in 47 minutes). I went as far as to where Woodland intersects with Campus in Saline, not far from the high school, and an intersection through which I rode frequently last year when coming home from work via Saline. So all in all, I'm pleased to have gone—and especially pleased to have had another trouble-free ride.