Today's ride was excellent. The weather was warm and windless and sunny, just how I like it, and I was full of energy.

I've pushed my rides up to 33.5 miles now, after riding approximately 30 miles for the previous six. Last year on this date my rides were only 20 miles long, with approximately the same average speed. On the other hand I'd ridden 21 times by May 29, 2001, whereas I've only done 13 rides so far this year. Also, at this time last year I'd ridden 293.88 miles, but this year I've done 318.01.

So, even though I started late this year, I'm still off to a good start and I'm looking forward to a strong season. In another week or two I'm going to start riding the Tuesday night half-centuries with the crew at Mystic Cycle, but I'd like to get my weight down another five pounds first. (We'll see...)

Oh, one other thing: the extra couple of miles that I added today include the steepest, longest climb in my current route. I actually think I'm going to have ot change it, as I don't have enough hills in my route and I'm sure I'll regret it when I start riding 50's next month (as it's entirely a hill ride).

Stats: 33.58 miles (54.06 km) in 109' 4" for an average speed of 18.47 mph (29.74 kph).

Brent Simmons has been telling me for two weeks that he's going to install Conversant and review it, at least for first impressions. (He's a busy guy, I'm not complaining about the two weeks.)

Yesterday he told me that he was finally going to have the time, and I asked him not to just post a bunch of praise for it, but rather to give it an honest critique. This is beta software, and an honest critique before the release is worth more to us than friendly fluff.

In "First Impressions of Conversant 1.0b2," he's provided a very clear and helpful review, reminding us of a bunch of things we already knew and pointing out some things we wouldn't see on our own. That's impressive for someone who's only spent an hour with the software. There are areas that he clearly isn't satisfied with, but he reminds the reader of two things: he's coming it from the Manila perspective, and this is beta software.

There have been a few people who have made comments as helpful as Brent's, but nobody's managed it with only a few "Conversant hours." I'm impressed! Thank you, Brent.