I went on a fantastic ride today. About 50 miles from Boulder to Greeley. 

I met another fast rider commuting to Niwot- he and I chatted for about ten miles of heavy tailwinds and fast cruising. He- whose name I neglected to get- was a 56 year old amateur racer who, noticing I was riding my fixed gear, remarked “That is a monster ride to do fixed!” 

It was very pleasant to have ridden with another person for at least a fraction of the ride. 

Just before he departed down a separate road, the winds shifted from behind to a just-as-powerful headwind. This was when the riding started to get more tiring. Soon, I found myself in Longmont among screaming rows of cars traversing large double-digit-lane intersections with formidable on-and-off ramps. It wasn’t until after I got further into farmland that I began to relax again. 

At about thirty miles in, I was starting to drop my cork. A long, straight descent followed by a climb just as long took a lot of effort out of me. I found myself bumming along slowly down the next road wishing I was significantly closer and that the wind had died off. Minutes later, my buddy Tyler passed me, honking- he called asking if I wanted a lift.

“No, man- I’m having a blast.”

“Okay, Robert. Call me when you get to town, we’ll grab a beer. You’re about twenty miles out. See you then!”

The excitement got my blood pumping, and I pedaled on, eyeing all-too-frequent mileage signs with hungry vision. 

The sun set behind the snow-bearing clouds that had been hovering above the mountains for the day. The temperature began to drop, and I swooped around the last few turns with my blinky on; arriving home minutes before the darkness with tired yet happy legs. Time for a home-brew. The trip took me three hours and twelve minutes of cycling.