Today I am reminded of why I love cycling: being outdoors, enjoying the (finally) beautiful weather (it was around 70±5 degrees today) on the ~5 hour jaunt. I rode from near Crabtree Valley Mall through NC State campus, through Dorthea Dix, over to Walnut Creek Trail to Neuse River Trail and then down to near the Clayton parking lot. Total mileage 63 miles. That's enough for a 100k ride, or a Gran Fondo...at least as far as Strava is concerned...and that's part of the fun, too, right? To earn those badges. I wasn't going out for a fast ride. I was going out for a ride, regardless of speed; just ride what I feel while listening to Matthew McConaughey's Greenlights memoir audiobook. I am really enjoying listening to that. In fact, on this ride, Connie and I have decided that the hardcover version will be in our future library. It's been raining a lot here, so the trails were still a bit muddy in places. Surprisingly the tunnel under I40 on Walnut Creek was just simpl