A Weekend of Bikes — John Rothfusz

Got out for a real outdoor ride Saturday morning, the first one like it in a while. 15.12 miles in 56:56, 144 average heart rate. Mostly it was just good to be back on pavement instead of staring at a trainer screen in the basement. Here's the route.

A hand-drawn-style line map of a looping bike route on the Training page, for a Saturday road ride in Shawnee — The route from Saturday's ride.

New pedals

New shoes this week too, and with them I finally made the swap, off the road cleats and onto Shimano SPD gravel cleats. First ride clipped into the new setup, and it held up fine the whole way.

Close-up of a Shimano SPD clipless bike pedal mounted on a gravel bike crank, chain and rear wheel visible behind it — The new pedal, mid-ride.

My youngest wanted in on the bike thing too, so Saturday afternoon he took his own balance bike out for a lap of the sidewalk, dinosaur helmet and all, very serious about the whole thing.

A young boy in a blue dinosaur helmet riding a balance bike down a driveway, facing the camera — Out on his own lap, dinosaur helmet and all.

Sunday the two kids rode together, my daughter out front on her bike and my youngest right on her wheel on his balance bike, working their way down the street side by side.

Two kids riding bikes down a suburban street, a girl on a teal bike ahead and a boy on a balance bike behind her — Keeping pace with his sister.

After that we washed all the bikes, and it turned into the best part of the afternoon. Mine went up on the stand, the kids grabbed the hose for their own, and for a few minutes the whole driveway was nothing but spray and soap and everybody racing to find the next thing to rinse. By the time we were done every bike out there was gleaming, which felt like a pretty good trade for a Sunday.

A red gravel bike on a repair stand being hosed down in a driveway, with two kids washing their own bikes with a hose in the background, a truck parked across the street — Mine on the stand, theirs getting the hose treatment.

A closer view of the same gravel bike on its repair stand getting rinsed, the two kids still spraying their bikes behind it — Close enough to catch the spray coming off the frame.

I didn't get my own training in Sunday. A neighbor ended up throwing a random backyard wedding and we went over for it instead. Amazing, and a lot of fun. No regrets skipping a ride for that.