Soft-Arse Summer Spin in the Shade

Seeking shade in the August evening sun

Could my arse really have gotten that soft in a couple of weeks?

Or is it just a pansy arse? Probably the latter, but I did not expect to notice anything in the way of a sore bum after so short of a ride. I guess I have to, as they say,  "HTFU" my 'arris, then :O

The road may be narrow and a bit shaggy, and of course,
there are cars to be wary of, but the riding is still
refreshing to the spirit here.

Anyway, this ride fell into the category of paying for the previous evening's festivities, father son-bonding, conversation defying the backyard mosquitoes late into the night ... after a hard sweaty day of yard work.

So, dehydrated to 49.3% this a.m. I had to work on getting rehydrated before riding in the heat. One effervescent powder that I've found comes in handy is a great product called Electro-Mix. It provides a small amount of basic electrolytes
for riding/pre-ride watering-up — pour the powder into water and you get a very lightly citrus-flavored drink. I'm pretty darn sure it's non-sugary (10 mg of Stevia in it's place) , so you drink valuable potassium, calcium but still get your carb intake using your favorite gel or bar, or whatever you prefer.

Carbs  0g
Sugars 0g
Calcium 100 mg
Magnesium 120mg
Manganese 2mg
Chromium 20 mcg
potassium 408mg
Stevia 10mg
(see ingredient list details at bottom)

Mike Vitti of CLIMB turned me on to it years ago. [It's made by Alacer — the manufacturer of the popular effervescent mukti-vitamin "Emergen-C."]

Still plenty of sun for nearly 6 p.m. 

Sands Point was a good choice for a flattish (493 feet) of climbing spread out over 8 miles, in the early evening shade. Thank you shade.

And ... with it being a relentless 84F out there, there were only three ways this ride was going to go: short, not so fast, and as flat as possible —  for here — where there is hardly anything that can be described as flat.

But as some rides go, even when you're feeling like you're dragging your rear end out there, you still get that little burst here or there and a fun segment to savor.

By the time I reached the Helen Keller center, my legs were coming back, if not my lungs, and providence blessed me with a slight tailwind for the outbound leg.

The rather castle-like gate house at the entrance to Sands Point Preserve -- one of the stops on the "Mansion Ride"