BBC OWLS ride

Time: 1:46:00

Distance: 27.215 miles

Average Speed: 15.5 mph

Max Speed: 49.3 mph

Calories Burned: 988.5

Fat Burned: 117.6

I couldn't decide between riding with the OWLS or the FOWLS tonight, but eventually chose the OWLS because I liked their route better.


This was pretty speedy for the OWLS and in fact, I heard some people asking if they had accidentally joined the FOWLS ride. I felt that it was fast, but not too fast. I talked to Kate again this week, a girl who has a pretty cool vintage bike with downtube shifters. And Laura is back in Bloomington from her summer at home in New York. As much as I enjoy going out and riding by myself, it's nice to have companionship and community too. Plus, there are some really strong riders around here and riding with them makes me a better rider too. In fact, this is my fastest average speed to date. And there's still a couple months of good riding to do. :)

It was an absolutely beautiful day (except for the headwind when we turned onto Old 37, but even that wasn't bad :D), but I didn't really have time to take in the scenery. I did notice lots of horses out today though and some really nice houses out towards the lake. And, after I split off from the group to make my way home via the Clear Creek Trail, I ran into another local blogger. I met Taylor from What I Wore (On My Run)! As a blogger and new runner/aspiring triathlete, I read a lot of blogs and hers is one I really like. The pictures are awesome and I like to think that one can be athletic and cute at the same time. Also, I was pretty happy that she liked my cycling shirt. This thing from REI in blue.

And finally, today concluded my experimenting with Clif products. I had a gel (vanilla) yesterday before I ran and had cherry shot blocks on the bike today. Although Clif definitely wins in the packaging department (I love the litter leash on the gel and the tube shape of the blocks so that squishing them out one at a time is super easy), I'm not the biggest fan of the actual products. I like the consistency of the gel (not as thick as Gu), but the blocks were pretty gross, especially since I generally like all things cherry. I may still try more Clif gels to see if it's just a flavor thing, but so far Gu is okay for gels and Honey Stinger takes the cake for chews. I need to get some Honey Stinger gels. I bet they're awesome.