Being Passed

I ride 52.5 miles a week in 3 outings. Normally I ride in the evening after tending the sheep but today because of the heat, I rode my 16.0 timed miles (with warm-up & cool-down: 17.47 miles) this morning, leaving the house about 9:30 AM with the temperature already in the upper 70's on its way to a mid-day high of 90F.

The first 12 miles of the ride were easy: three fast 4 mile splits, but on the 4th split I slowed at bit because I was riding into a head wind.  And as it happened, another rider passed me.  He said, "Good day," going by. A little surprised, as I didn't see him coming up on me, I nodded,  yes, it is a good day.

Being passed is in some ways inspirational: I speed up and follow the rider staying about 3-4 bike lengths behind him, letting him do the front work of cutting the air, riding at a pace that is faster (today, an average of 17.5 MPH) than my normal speed (16.0 MPH) for that stretch of the trail.  Being passed proves that I can ride faster.