Biking has a lot to do with color. I find that when I wear mismatched colors I don’t ride well. When I have complementary colors, I do great. But, when everything matches, the biking experience and the color become one.

My color this year is blue. My bike is blue and black. My helmet is blue and black. My tires are blue and black.

I had a great ride today. 16 miles to meet up with Susan (red) and Ken (yellow) near the Wachusett Reservoir, 15 miles around the reservoir, and 14 miles back. Just under 46 miles for the day at an average of 16.39mph. I topped out at 39.5. Church street from Boylston to Northborough is a 5 mile descent, but not tremendously steep. So, even with a 110 cadence I couldn’t hit 40. I think this year I might try to hit 50, but need a real steep hill and maybe a nice big time trial chain ring.

When I got home I cleaned up a bit, so that I could go out and start mowing the lawn. Most of the backyard hadn’t been mowed yet this season, so it took two passes with the mower. Took about three hours to do the whole thing. Then made lunch, got my son to take a nap, and then worked on my bike. Gave it a good wash down, then swapped out my old tires for the new blues. What a pain! 700×20s are not easy to mount.

In other biking news, Bill, Ken and I finally came up with a name for “Bill’s Century.” This is the century in August that Bill started seven years ago. It benefits bone marrow diseases, of which a friend of Bill passed away from in 2000. The ride will now be called, “Middlesex Century.” The ride is in a cloverleaf shape, and just makes a big sweep through the county, starting and ending in Maynard. We are starting to assemble our own web site at MiddlesexCentury.org. We’ve got some more marketing materials to create, some more info pages, routes, cue sheets, donation form - we’ve got some work to do. Hopefully we’ll be able to get lots of riders this year, and hopefully lots of pledges to go with it. There is no fee to ride, and no minimum donation - and ride as much of it as you like. We are a small group, and can accommodate just about anything.