Bonus Ride

My friend Rick has a semi-regular poker night about once a month; typically on Monday night. I used to ride to the poker night at his house and then ride home afterward. Originally, rain was predicted for Monday night so I has planned to ride home and then drive to Rick's house. The forecast changed during the day on Monday so I decided to ride there.

Rick's house is only 7.75 mile from work so the distance is fairly easy. Traffic is a little heavier than I like and there are some hills as well. Temperature was in the 30's. Poker night is always fun. The downside is that it's too much fun to leave early. I changed back into my cycling clothes and left Rick's house at 11:40.

The ride home from Rick's house after poker is always an unusual ride for me. It feels more like a brevet than a commute. Late at night there is almost no traffic on Big Bend so I have the road to myself. It's been a long day and although I haven't ridden that many miles, my legs are tired.

On that night it was still relatively warm when I started the ride, probably still in the 30's. It was fairly windy but it was generally a tailwind. The first part are the ride is fairly hilly. The climb up from Valley Park always seems to take forever. Once I passed Sappington Rd. I was back on my commute route so it felt easier. A little later a front must have moved in. It got colder and started to snow. The snow wasn't too heavy and was actually kind of pretty.

I made it home in about an hour. When I came inside I was that mixture of hot and cold that you get after riding in cold weather. My body and head were warm, but my skin was cold. After a little bit of cool down time I went to bed.