I rode my first 20k ride yesterday. The route was something that I didn’t have to spend any time planning, as it was just a ride to Vreta kloster and back, a ride I’ve done scores of times on a bicycle, a bunch of times even accompanied by my wife, and I knew that the surface was perfect. Since I’ve gradually built up the distances on my unicycle rides, I knew that I was capable of lasting the three hours or so it would take me to ride the 20 km, and so off I went, though it was a little late. Though the light is really good now, I prefer to leave before 1800, or at any rate 1900, but it was past 1930, and I wanted to try and focus a bit on my pace too, so I could finish as soon as I could. My current average speed is around 7.5 km/h, which makes for 40 minutes, every 5 kilometers. My aim was to try and keep my pace as even as I could, at or above that average, and I found that I managed pretty well. I rode some really long sections without any unplanned dismounts (UPDs) and I’m really happy about it. I now am really beginning to enjoy riding longer distances, without any breaks. I was able to steadily chug up the Bergsbacken climb, and on my return leg, I was able to negotiate the descent too, without incident.

As the light started dipping, the insect attacks became more, and it was not the easiest of tasks to try and swat mosquitoes off my legs without unmounting. The insects did succeed in causing at least one UPD, but I was able to hop right back on and keep going. When I returned, I was shocked to see the time, as my watch had actually gone a bit haywire with the time, and was displaying a time that was at least half an hour less that the correct time. Shruti was a bit peeved that I’d taken so long and hadn’t even ringed her, and I reassured her I would be extra careful in the future.