A pleasant end to an evening of training.

Road season this past weekend. Results were mixed. I felt quite good Saturday at Francis Park. I didn't put on any grand display but I never felt terribly stressed and comfortably finished in the pack. Sunday, on The Hill, was ball's out from the gun. That's not a good recipe for this old guy that starts slowly. I pushed and pushed, moving up a little and then drifting back again. More than once I was closing down small gaps. This can only go on for so long before I pop. Especially in this injury-plagued season of limited racing. I simply don't have the fitness for that type of racing. Put a little hill on the course, like the State Crit in Jefferson City or Francis Park, and I seem to do okay. REgardless, I'm putting the road season behind. Nowadays, cyclocross starts immediately after the road ends. Gone are the years of having September to rest a little and mix in some CX training with longer, fun rides. Now you get six days. No rest for the weary Regardless, I figured it was time to do a little training for this weekends CX butt-kicking. It was a balmy 85 degrees and a damp 63% humidity. Ideal CX weather *cough*BS*cough* I have to admit that my efforts were mid-level but I was still sweating like a pig. Do pigs sweat? Doesn't matter, I was sweating a lot and talking about training is boring. While I cooled down, I found the hiking/biking trail that I first heard about a few months ago. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a pleasant little spin, particularly on this sunny, late afternoon. As the path turned left and ran along the mighty Mississippi, the angle of the sun actually made the river look blue with bright green trees and plants on the opposite shoreline. The scenery itself is nothing spectacular but I found it oddly beautiful. On the big, blue river were hulking barges seemingly abandoned and rusting from a hard life on the water. Other structures were along river as well. Rusting, rotting and falling apart yet attractive in a harsh, industrial way. Yet, if you looked to the other side, was the gleaming new River City Casino. It was a interesting dichotomy and made for a most pleasant way to end the day's ride.