You're so sweet, Starfish !

But you know what? When I first started riding, only a few years ago, a 5 mile flat ride was a big deal for me. Then, eventually, I could manage a 10 mile ride. And so on.

And hills? Hah! There's a hill near my home I call my nemesis hill. It's about a half-mile long, about 250 feet of climbing, and fairly steep in parts. It took me months to finally make it 2/3 of the way up that sucker, and then when I finally got up there I realized there was more to it. I think it was another couple of months before I finally slogged up the whole thing.

The first time Veronica asked me to ride up Mt. Diablo with her, I was scared sh!tless. You could imagine my relief when she emailed me that morning saying she had to bail on the ride because her cat was sick and she had to take it to the vet (cat turned out fine, otherwise I would have felt a bit guilty doing the happy dance under those circumstances).

Fast forward a few years later. This weekend Veronica & I are doing a 300K brevet (that's about 188 miles) with about 7000 feet of climbing. I'm fairly confident I can finish it - not at a rip-roaring pace mind you, but within the 20 hours allotted, yeah, that I think I can do.

It took me a few years to get to this point, and I don't consider myself athletic. I'm just your average Jo who likes to ride her bike.