We have our bagels with cream cheese and head out to Bullis Park. There's a lot of other cars and bikes at the park this morning. We're almost ready and in shock, Vicky says to me, "Only one water bottle?" I chuckle, point out that I have the Camelbak on and then say "Yes, my knees are too fat and rub against the water bottle on the up tube." I don't think she really knew how to respond to that so off we went. As I swung onto the bike, my butt was not happy. I could suddenly feel where the saddle was yesterday morning. My body is not happy about getting back on the bike. I holler out, "My butt hurts!" I continue to whine the two blocks to the stop sign and no one lets me quit or turn back.
Once we're at the stop sign, it's down hill and Pete and Vicky roll on. Guess we're actually doing this ride today. I grab my gears, get into the big ring and enjoy the downhill. As we pedal the mile straight away passed the soccer fields, I keep up with Vicky and we chat as we ride. This is new for me! I'm usually too slow and too tired (unless we're going down a hill) to gab while I pedal. I attack the creek crossing and discover that's not really needed on this crossing. I sure needed it every time on the Schwinn.
We turn the corner and I keep on going as this road is the long slow uphill that slows me down every time. I manage to keep Vicky in my sight almost to the end of the road, but lose her towards the end. She keeps on going passed the usual rest stop and I stop for the break with Pete and Erica. We don't stop long and head off down Amman Road (known for its big rolling hills.) I climb the first hill on Amman Road and suddenly feel my bagel in my chest. As we come to our turn, I pull over and stop. I announce "I'm going to lose my breakfast if I climb another hill."
We had just turned onto Persimmon Hill which is, you guessed it, a hill! I quickly decide to send Pete ahead to catch Vicky and announce that Erica and I will go straight on Amman Road and meet them at the school. Pete agrees and takes off in pursuit of Vicky. Erica and I rest and chat about breakfasts for a bit as I try to will digestion to work. I decide I'm ready for the one more hill on Amman Road and get to the school for a rest while we wait for Pete and Vicky to catch up to us.
Erica had forgotten what that last hill was like. We find a spot to pull over and wait. Just as we pull in, we look up and there comes Vicky around the corner. She tell us we cheated, but doesn't slow down. We holler that Pete is chasing her and she says "he hasn't caught me yet." We continue to wait for Pete as we had agreed to meet him here. As he approaches, we holler that Vicky is ahead of him. We're laughing and enjoying the ride as he kicks it back up and continues his chase.
Suddenly, Erica and I realize we're getting left behind, so we jump on our bikes. I take off moving as fast as I can without being in a full sprint. We all regroup at the bakery and learn that Vicky had decided to push herself and see how far and fast she could go. Pete only caught her because she'd stopped at the bakery. As we roll on, Vicky and I pass two men on their bikes. That's worthy of a cheer and a high five at the stop sign. Unfortunately, that was short lived as they pass us a couple miles down the road.
I try to match Vicky's cadence and decide to just keep up with her speed instead. I manage to keep up with her all the way to the store. I'm getting tired and now wishing that I had thought to have some Gu at the bakery. My little toe hurts on my right foot and I decide my toe nail must be too long and make a mental note to trim that tonight.
We head back out and find the headwind, again. There's always one somewhere. I'm feeling tired and decide that I'm doing well to finish without leaving my breakfast on the side of the road today. I pedal on and don't push myself to keep up. At the turn for the final stretch and uphill, Erica waits for me. We take a few minutes to catch our breath and decide that we're fresh and ready for the climb back to the parking lot. I take the lead and manage to climb at a reasonable pace, especially for being so tired.
I managed to cut the 19 mile route down to 14 miles. I learned a lesson about breakfast. There is something to be said about having only half a bagel. In addition, there was minimal commute time from breakfast to the ride start this morning, so not only did I eat too much, but I hadn't had the normal drive time to digest. I'd rather learn these lessons now than in October.
Goals Today's Miles: 14
Total Miles Achieved: 488.9
Financial Investment: $1781.14
Total Weight Loss: +1.2
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