Best Buddies 2020 Challenge: Stage 4

The jersey design for my fourth Best Buddies Hearst Castle Challenge, planet Earth with wings and butterfly-inspired hearts, seems a fitting choice for today.

No fog. No blue sky. This is not turning out to be the challenge I had in mind. [This year is not the year any of us had in mind.] I'm in the yellow “moderate” zone; red is “unhealthy,” brown is “hazardous.”

That orange spot glowing in the water behind the mallards is a reflection of the sun, casting a bronze gloom over us all.

I slowly puttered around, crossing above two different highways on bike/pedestrian bridges. One familiar, one less so (and which would have been useful during a different exploration a few months ago). Bike through random neighborhoods, see new sights, learn new routes.

Stage 4: 14 miles, 340 feet of climbing, average speed 9.7 mph. I found a steep little hill tucked in one neighborhood, but the top will wait for another day. No exertion for me, even with moderate air quality (average heart rate: 98 bpm). I had set out to cover at least 10 miles, and decided to roll around a bit more after I stopped recording my track.

The air purifier I'd ordered almost two weeks ago arrived. Finally.