A good training ride

The weather was a bit better today.  No rain and a bit warmer.  Still pretty cloudy and cool.  So far this season I haven't worn shorts or a short-sleeve jersey.  I also haven't needed sunscreen yet.  I put it on one day a few weeks ago when it was supposed to become sunny later in the day, but it never did.

Although the weather wasn't great it was very comfortable and the ride was good.  I did 49 miles which keeps me on track to meet my pre-ride goal.  I still avoided any major climbs, but took on a lot more hills today than yesterday.  I didn't feel any effects from my surgery.  I'd say that's behind me now.  I just need to keep up my mileage and I'll be ready in May.

My route today went east to Bethlehem then south into the Saucon Valley area, back to the west in the area south of the Lehigh Valley's South Mountain, then down the north side of South Mountain into Macungie.  This route doesn't really climb directly over the mountain.  Instead it meanders along the south side gradually climbing to the top in smaller segments.  Then it drops directly down the north side.  It would be much more challenging in the opposite direction.

According to www.mapmyride.com, today's ride covered an elevation range of ~250ft. to 1025 ft. with a total ascent of 1388 ft.  That compares to yesterday's flat ride which covered a range from ~375 ft. to 545ft. with a total ascent of 492 ft.  I'm not sure how much I trust their route data, but it's probably in the ballpark and gives a good idea how various routes and climbs compare.  I use this site a lot to map my rides and check out potential rides.

Here are a few photos from today's ride:

The Lehigh University football stadium - on Lehigh's south campus, south of Bethlehem, PA

A short portion of my ride was on the Saucon Rail Trail, a very nicely done rails-to-trails conversion south of Bethlehem, from Hellertown to near DeSales University.  The open portion of the trail is currently about 4.5 miles.

When I ride in this area I usually pass by the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley.  It's a lovely shopping area, but also a commentary on the evolution of the American business world.  America's downtowns have mostly been put out of business by the interstate highway system and suburban sprawl.  So now we build these "lifestyle centers" to resemble old-time Main Street America, but they're squeaky clean and built on vacant land far removed from any population center.  Everyone drives their cars to get there.