My weekend.

 I had the day open and planned a big road ride to get some saddle time.   This is one thing that I let slip the past couple of years and I paid for it.  The lesson: if you want to do long rides, you have to do long rides...

I rolled out of the house after it warmed up.  Wearing a vest, knee warmers and arm warmers.  The day was sunny and a high of 70 was forecast.  No complaints here.   I pedaled out through Swannanoa towards Black Mtn and eventually south on Hwy 9.

A quick stop at the spring to refill and I was on my way again.  Up and over the Eastern Continental Divide, my thoughts wandered.  Down through the pastures and farms, past the Straight Away Cafe, I considered stopping for lunch but it was a bit too early.

Winding around and mostly down, I spotted another set of tire tracks on the wet pavement in one of the curves.  I never caught up with them.

 Left turn on Old Fort Rd for the climb up and around Round Mtn.  The road turns into Bat Cave Rd and then descends down into the valley where Old Fort is.  I again considered stopping for food, but decided to just stop for water, eat a bar and keep riding.  

 I decided to take a right turn and ride through Graphite and up Mill Creek rd on the gravel.  I was surprised to ride past a small pond and see a bald eagle sitting on the edge.  At first I thought it was a decoy, possibly to scare geese away, and then did a double take when it turned it's head. 

 I climbed back up the mountain , through Black Mtn where I stopped for a little snack.  I was hoping for the prepackaged sandwiches, but they didn't have any, so I went for the honey bun with 460 calories and a Coke.   I should have only eaten half of the honey bun but I was so hungry.  My burps tasted like honey bun the last hour of the ride.  

 The last bit of the ride, I was spent and excited that I had gotten the mileage.  This was the longest ride that I had done in a very long time, and I look forward to building up over the next few months.  I love this loop, though I have only done it 3 times.  I have a couple of ideas to mix it up a little bit.  It is definitely nice dropping down in elevation and feeling the warmth on my skin.

Forgot to add:  68 miles of sunshine and smiles!