Branched Oak Ride

Friday morning I went on a ride out to Branched Oak with Scott, one of my musician friends who has recently taken up riding bikes and wants to learn about riding on the road.

He is used to mostly riding on the Mopac trail, so wind and hills (and although not too windy, there were plenty of hills), are a little new to him, as is going for longer rides. We started out at Pawnee Lake and rode out to Branched Oak, taking a lap around the lake before heading back. The hills were tough for him, but he did a good job staying within himself.

For a midmorning ride, I was surprised at the amount of wildlife we saw - a fawn and a doe early in the ride, then a big buck on the west side of Branched Oak. We also came across this family of turkeys - one of them had crossed the road in front of us - the rest of them stayed on the other side. The lone turkey made her displeasure known (loudly) at being separated from the rest of the family.

It was a nice morning, and a good 27 mile recovery ride for me. I tend to push myself pretty hard on most of the rides I go on, and this was a fun way to force myself to go a little easier.