last day of summer

What's around this bend?

 ... and what a day! Sunny skies, 24 C, a warm southwest wind.

Following my plan, I rode southwest of town today, straight west on 16A to the Spring Lake exit, continuing west on Parkland Drive. At first I felt a little discouraged. The road seemed fairly flat. I had looked outside before setting off and it didn't seem very windy. So why was it so difficult riding? 

Most of my riding is north of town, where there are some pretty steep hills, and I consider myself in decent shape. When climbing, I know just when to downshift and when to shift up again. I know when to stand up for a few seconds to gain some extra momentum. In short, I've always figured that if I can climb those hills at a good clip without too much trouble, I can do anything. But I discovered today that riding on flatter ground with a headwind (obvious from watching the tree branches swaying) demands a whole different set of  pedaling and shifting skills. I really had to work to keep my speed up around 25 km/hour, and it took me some time to find a comfortable gear.

The road curves and winds a bit and there are some small ups and downs, and the scenery is beautiful, especially at this time of year, so even though it was hard work, it was fun.

I rode on Parkland Drive past Blueberry School to Highway 770, where I turned around and headed back east. Was I ever thrilled to discover that I had been heading uphill almost the whole time and that I did most definitely have a headwind. Suddenly my speed was up above 30 and pedaling was easy.

Just before the school, at Range Road 20, I turned right and headed south. The south wind was not as bad as the west wind, so this was a fun ride, with some more small hills and interesting twists and turns. I rode through the village of Spring Lake and ended up at Range Road 524, which I planned to take back to town.

But this sign and the westbound road it indicated looked too inviting to resist, so I turned right and rode west once more. Now that I was expecting the wind, it didn't seem nearly as bad, and once again, the beautiful scenery made for a pleasant ride. 

The photos below were taken at the branch-off point, where you can continue west to Hasse Lake or head north to Highway 770. I decided that someday I'll take the road to the lake; I'm not sure whether it's paved all the way, but if not, I'll just turn around. I'd also like to ride north someday and see what that is like.

Looking north: "I kept that road for another day..."

Looking southeast over the fields

 But today, I simply turned around and headed east, back to town.I rode almost exactly the same distance as yesterday, 52 + km, but it was quite a different ride. I prefer riding on hills, but sometimes a change is good, too.

Looking east: my road back to town