The dog days of summer are in full swing so I decided no more riding the county trail until fall (cooler temps) gets here. The trail runs east-west so I have the sun in my face as soon as I leave the house and its beating down on my back all the way home. And there is zero shade along the trail.
So today I loaded the Litespeed in the car and drove to the Withlacoochee Trail where there is plenty of shade. I've been putting this off until I felt my hernia surgery was healed enough to lift my bike into and out of the back of the SUV.
Rode north to Holder (yes that's a real town along the trail) and then headed south to the bike shop. I've been thinking about upgrading the drivetrain from 9 speed to 11 speed. The last couple of times I had to replace components I had a tough time finding 9 speed Ultegra components. So Sherry (the shop owner) is pricing an 11 speed upgrade — either Ultegra and 105 — depending on the total price.
I could do most of the work myself but my wife said no working on the bike in the house (it's air conditioned) and the garage (which faces east so it starts heating up 5 minutes after sunrise) is not. So if the price is right the bike shop folks will be swapping out the old 2001 Ultegra components for brand new.
Anyway, I ended up riding 18.5 miles.