After an exhausting week culminating in a successful fundraising event for our local Salvation Army, my 2 girlfriends dragged me out on a 30 mile ride today, which was the last thing I wanted to do following 2 nights with a total of 6 hours sleep and 2 days of standing on my feet for hours.

After grumbling to myself for the first couple of miles, I was glad they did! It was a gorgeous day, with temps in the 70's. We rode through the back roads of four towns, and ended up at the local Dunkin' Donuts for ice coffee and a few laughs. I had my highest average speed since buying the bike a couple of weeks ago (nearly 14 mph), and although I'm still the slowest of the group, I feel really great.

Great biking and great friends...it doesn't get any better than this!