Another Solo Century

I was lamenting on the ride today that this is the last Saturday ride of July, and Summer is winding down. This has been a weird season for me. I usually peak in June, but this year I peaked in May. I've been feeling tired since the first of June. I slowed down a little to try and recover, thinking I'd be able to get a few more Hammer rides in, but I'm still tired. Nevertheless, I've had a very good year. I accomplished the goals I'd set out, and actually did a little better than I thought I would.
Another weird aspect of this season has been my weight. I've been consistently 5-10 pounds heavier than I was last year at the same time. That leaves me a little surprised that my miles are up along with my average speeds.
Rode to Hanover today, then into Rockford, Delano, Watertown, Mayer, Waconia, Victoria and home. Between Watertown and Mayer is a very rural stretch. It's one of the prettier stretches on all of my routes, with farms, lakes and very little traffic. I'm heading south and I see, in a front yard of a farm house, a cow kind of leaning back on it's hind legs. In front of the cow is a 16 year old boy that is maybe a foot taller that the cow. The boy has the cow by the face, he must of had a bit or harness or something that I couldn't see, pulling the cow. The boy and the cow were facing each other, but obviously weren't working together. The boy saw me on my bike, and without taking his hands off the cow, or losing any ground to the cow, watched me ride by. He had a preplexed look on his face, like what is he doing out here, apparently unaware how out of the ordinary the boy and the cow's manuvers looked to me.
There is very little between Watertown and Mayer. Like I said a few farms, lakes and no traffic. About a mile after I saw the boy and his cow, I see a cyclist coming from the opposite direction heading towards me. The closer he gets the more familiar he looks. Yep! It's Ron. We stop and talk for about 15 minutes. I got a kick out of the two of us standing in our cycling clothes, in the middle of nowhere, leaning on our bikes, shooting the breeze, like it was an everyday occurence. Ron was kind enough to retrace his route and ride with me back into Excelsior. The scenery was spectacular, but cassettes didn't come up. 100/19.6