Anniversary

4 years and 40 pounds ago, my father brought to me this idea of riding a bike for fitness. I have been hooked on riding the bike ever since. Granted, I have watched and followed the TdF since watching Live on Sky TV in Germany, Greg LeMond's improbable pulling back of 54 seconds in the 1989 edition. Impressive it was to watch!

As I sat and rode today, I thought back on many of the rides I have done, recalling good, bad, and ugly. Last week, when JD and I rode, we talked frequently about going back to SA and putting in some miles there to compare with what we have ridden since. The 211 loop with its hills, the scenic loop hill, Bandera road, and other rides that we did would probably be bumps or rollers rather than hills when comparing them to rides like the Col de Hamilton or the Rock Shop climb or Bald Peak. It is nice to have had to opportunity to ride such incredible rides over some beautiful landscape.

As for this week's riding, I got back on the bike on Monday to ride into work. Thought I'd show how tough I was and do some climbing. Well, the hills fought back this time. I am riding up to the green house on Krueger, legs screaming at me, letting me now that they did not approve of this pain. I had to get home so I kept pedaling. A few times I thought about calling the SAG, but my pride overcame me. The 25 miles on Monday hurt so I didn't ride till Thursday. The legs felt better but still not quite recovered. Today was 57+ miles. Of which, 22 were with the Chilly C Cycling Team or the Triple C Team. They want to ride in the Tour de Stake so I need to get them into shape. It was good easy pedaling after a morning of hard intervals. At the same time, I love to have company and this was awesome to have them with me. All told, 107+ miles this week.

Update on Goals: YTD miles: 3329 (definitely more than last year); 204 pounds (9 more to go). I am on my way to reaching both. Next target: Tour of Tucson in November - less than 6.

See you on the road!