I woke this morning after working all weekend and an interuppted sleep thanks to my cat, and decided I had better get out before it gets hot. (Estimated to be 87-90 degrees today.) I live on a hill, so decided to trek upwards, starting about 8:30. About 7 miles into the ride, I thought what am I doing?, I opted to ride "around the block" which is 20 miles, lots of hills, and I was getting tired already. About 5 miles from home and going up a hill, had to take a break and eat some sport jelly beans (that were in my bag as a gift from last years SS that I saved for an emergency) or I wasn't going to make it home. The remainder of the hill climbing was fine. I wanted to be home by 10am, got home at like 10:05 or something. I had a nice ride, got back before the heat set in, had minimal harassment from cars, and saw some beautiful landscapes, sheep, goats, and felt great knowing that I was ready to throw in the towel, and I only had to granny on one hill vs. all of them. AND when i was traveling at noon to go to a drs appt. by vehicle, I took some of the same route, and a younger bear ran right out in front of me. Congrats to makbike, enjoy your ride tonight.