Catrin, the mountain biking sounds like lots of fun. I love how you have just immersed yourself in all kinds of cycling since starting out!

I thought the email bulletin said 55 miles for today's group ride. Okay, that's a little longer than I do on most Saturdays, but not by much and I went 65 just weeks ago. Hah! 72.2 when we rolled back in to the parking lot! We rode south into the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation and through some beautiful desert but then the road winds through some depressing piles of mine tailings for a while. Although the calendar says fall started yesterday and the weather was pleasantly cool when we left, it was about 94 degrees at the end of the ride. Fortunately we had some overcast on the longest climb on the return. All I could think about was downing a mocha frappucino to cool down!

Overall, it was a beautiful day and the slower riders (that's my department ) actually joined forces for a paceline for about 10 miles on the way out and about the same on the way back. That was very helpful, and my overall time was 15.8, significantly higher than my solo averages which are often 14-15 mph. And I have surpassed my weekly goal of 100 miles with only 3 rides this week, and another on the calendar for tomorrow. I better do some stretching!

But guess what I got as we came in to town? A flat. Yes, after 4 flats last week, I replaced my front tire, but now the rear is looking a bit ragged. My DH called me to say there might be a brand new tire in the storage room- and yup! He was right. So I can save the $$ for something else. But I guess I need to do yet another tire change this afternoon.