Stop and stare

I think I'm moving but I go nowhere...

...

Stop and stare

You start to wonder why you're here not there...

Man, it was nice to get OUT on the road bike today. I've been putting in a ton of trainer time this month due to impending darkness and just other random stuff, and it was amazing just to sit on the bike and pedal down the sidewalk and out on the street. The bike feels so much better when it's really moving and not just sitting stationary.

I didn't like the cars and traffic so much, but that's life.

It was great to feel the sun and wind and the not-so-clear mucked up hazy sky.

Wound up with a bit over an hour of ride time and about 1600ft of climbing in 16.5 miles. Not too shabby. The first climb started out around 5% and then hovered around 8% most of the way. I felt pretty good once the legs opened up, and attacked a short climb standing in the big(ger) ring about 3 down on the cassette. I felt fried after that, so did a lot of spinning. Small group with one newer rider, but I hit the climbs at my pace.

I hope that the other rider didn't get disheartened riding with faster people. I sometimes get disheartened and feel slow (it's easy to do this when you are the last one up every hill and down them as well - sorry 'bout your luck this coming Saturday, sucka's! I'm riding the big(ger) bike! Yield mofo's! haha!) when riding with faster riders, but everytime I can keep them in sight for just a minute or two longer I know it's making me faster.

The feeling of movement and momentum was just great today. Loved it. I might just do it again tomorrow on a different route and enjoy what warmth (read: high heat) is left in store for us this "fall". It's only been 3 days and I'm only an hour shy of my last week's ride time. I'm guesstimating total ride time for Sun-Sat to be around 13 hours by the end of Saturday. Not too shabby. It's also slightly mimicking what is in store for me once real "training" begins (soon).

All this get out and ride when I feel like it stuff is about to end... I'm looking forward to seeing what it will bring.