What Kelownagirl says -- my first few miles are usually the hardest too, legs protest, nose says "I donwannabreathe today" and my brain says "I'm not so sure this was such a good idea," and so I have learned to use those as my "warm up" time -- I don't worry about speed, try to avoid hills, just pedal and breathe until my body "opens up" as it were. You probably know the feeling! Once I get there, it's suddenly all good, I can push myself a bit, tackle those hills that I refuse to hate climbing (chanting: "I do NOT hate hills" the whole way!) and ride on for however long.

My new "endurance trick" is trail mix. A bite or two of nuts/dried fruit at stops keeps me going happily much longer than no bites!

Karen in Boise