Beautiful Ride

This was a ride that I will never forget.

It was a typical Weds morning and the plan was to start riding at 6:00 AM. Colleen and Todd rode to my house and Brian was supposed to join us but he overslept (can't blame him!).  Colleen and Todd both had to be back by 7:30 so we took off pretty fast.

We rode south to 37th street and then headed east to Kersey. Like Colleen, Todd is super fast and I knew I had my work cut out for me keeping up with them. But they know I'm not as fast as they are and I counted on them going my pace.

We rode at a fast clip all the way to Kersey. But I couldn't help noticing how pretty it was out at this time. The sun was shining through some clouds in the horizon creating a soft palette of colors in the sky. The air was cool and the corn swayed gently in the wind. Perfect riding conditions!

We got to Kersey and turned south. Colleen and Todd were plenty warmed up at this point and really pushed the pace. Todd tried to get me to hang with him as we went up a long hill but I couldn't. Colleen and rode side by side and she gave me some advice on doing sprints on the bike. I tried a few and just about died!

We rode south for 5.5 miles and then turned back toward the west. The mountains were purple (really!) and the sky still had that soft hue of a summer sunrise. Just gorgeous.

We rode west and then turned north again. I was working very hard to keep up with them. Colleen is a painter and she had done some exterior painting on a house that we rode by so we stopped to look at it -it was pretty cool -she had painted french garage doors on the side of a barn or something like that. Very interesting.

It was 7:20 at that point and they had a ways to go. I told them to go on and that I was going to add some miles on since I had more time than they had. For a brief moment after they left I felt a pang of regret, then told myself to get going. And I did.

I rode south to 37th street (the street we started on), where they had ridden too, and had to make a decision. Do I turn left and go home or do I turn right and ride further. I turned right.

I rode along this country road enjoying the scenery. Its a nice road because there's not much traffic and it curves around in the beginning. I kept thinking that I should turn back and go home but for some reason i kept going.

I ended up going to Kersey again. Again I told myself to just turn around and go home but didn't...I turned right and headed south again, on the same route we took earlier. I didn't think it was that far but it was!

I finally got home at 9:05!  Three hours of almost non-stop riding. Wow, I had never planned on riding that far. I was proud of myself for not turning back and for pushing on...and for enjoying the ride!

I was so curious how far I had ridden that I drove the course later in my car. 58 miles!  I was shocked. I had no intention of riding that far, as I said, so it was kinda cool.

There's something immensely satisfying about reaching a milestone, esp when you do it alone, and I felt like I had hit a milestone in my training on this ride. I was able to ride 58 miles without batting an eye.

I'm starting to think I might meet my goal for the Ironman (13 hrs). I've got a long way to go but this ride definitely boosted my confidence.

Now if I can just run...