Ride Summary

Experience

• I felt slow and the air felt thick. There was a feeling of sadness in the air I couldn’t escape. I felt distracted and it was hard to concentrate on the road.

• Strangers came to my rescue. As most drive the loop, pull over at scenic outlooks to take photos or hike a little trail, I found myself in time with a few of the cars. I started to recognize them, and as a solo cyclist I stood out. We began cheerful yet bashful greetings as you do when wearing masks all day. I felt a special connection to a woman driving alone. She just stood out of her jalopy of a car at every pullout and sang. She was friendly and fun, and I felt sad when we got out of sync with each other about 3/4 of the way around.

Weather

• Cool and foggy to cool and sunny.

• Smoke and haze from summer fires.

Spotted

• Pine Martin walked up to me and checked me out!

Roads

• Smooth pavement with lots of gravel debris on the edges. Ample turnouts, decent visibility.

• Rolling hills.

Mechanicals

• none.