Bike Log (sore legs edition)

Spending a few days of downtime at our timeshare in the Berkshires.

First ride of the season, I did 21.75 miles on the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. This is a four-star luxury trail with nice paved surface, free parking, and restrooms at the trailhead (unlike the rock-strewn hazards I encountered in New Hampshire). I started out not knowing how long I would go before I'd need to turn around and go back. It was so much fun and I was feeling so good and not tired at all... so I did all nearly-11 miles of it. Got to the end of the line, rested up for a bit, hit the water bottle, then turned round for the return trip.

Oops. Maybe I should have realized that the trip out was "too easy".

One reason I like rail trails is that they're largely flat. As ceo told me once, "Trains hate hills as much as out-of-shape cyclists do". The key here is "largely". I'll look up the actual elevations, but I bet that the ride out was such a piece of cake due to a tiny-but-constant downhill slope... which turns into a tiny-but-constant UPhill slope on the return trip. And unlike on the trip out, on the return trip there's no calling it quits until you get back to your car.

I'm so glad this condo has a jacuzzi...