I knew it would be a tough ride on the Racetrack loop due to the winds caused by Hurricane Irene. The winds were 14 mph from the north. As far as wind goes it is better to have a headwind on the way out and a tailwind on the way back. There is nothing worse than battling a fierce headwind when you're tired from riding the past hour. Well maybe being mauled by wild dogs is worse but it's close.

In the last 8 minutes of the ride my bike seat came loose and I had to ride out of the saddle the rest of the way. Other things of note included watching a semi slam on it's brakes to avoid creaming a car that stopped for a light that was going from yellow to red. I guess the trucker thought he and the car were going to go for it. Anyway the semi tires burned up some and the stench was horrific as billows of smoke came off the tires. Also they are doing road work on 441. The workers had orange cones out blocking off one of the lanes. I wasn't about to share a single lane on 441 with speeding cars so I was dodging and weaving through the cones. One of the workers started hollering at me but whatever I wasn't hurting anything.

Some older dude on a mountain bike witnessed my epic final segment of out of the saddle riding. Afterwards he said it looked impressive. I told him about the seat malfunction. I guess I need to stop picking up my bikes by the seat. The Sempre is so light you wouldn't think it would matter but I guess it takes its toll.