Feelin' a little bad a**

[channlluv]

I rode 40 miles today! My longest ride ever, and after the hard lesson learned last Sunday with the electrolyte depletion, I was much better prepared today. I ate a good breakfast - 2 Vans Omega 3 Berry Boost waffles with a poached egg, and I took water, green tea, and GU2O electrolyte powder with me to mix on my breaks between laps. I also took a nectarine, an apple, a chocolate chip Clif Bar, and a 100-calorie pack of Trader Joe's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

I started at 8:25 and my bike felt a little sluggish, or maybe it was me...maybe breakfast was too heavy, maybe it was what I had for lunch yesterday (Chik-fil-a Deluxe on a wheat bun), maybe I didn't get enough sleep. After lap two (16 miles), I stopped to refill my water bottle and eat the nectarine and I noticed that the back brake was rubbing the tire.

Geez. For 16 miles I'd been riding with the freakin' brake on. So I fixed that and it felt like I was on a whole new bike. Yesterday I got called on for emergency carpool duty for a friend, and I had to dismantle my bike by taking the back tire off so it would fit into the wayback and let me set up the seats to accommodate one more little boy instead of the bike. I didn't put the back wheel back on right and it was out of balance just enough to rub the brake.

My knees thanked me and I cranked out lap #3, stopped for another refill, and then did two more there-and-back laps at the lake. Total 40 miles in 3 hours of ride time.

I'm really, really proud of myself. I didn't set any speed records, by any means, and I still got passed a lot -- there was this girl who passed me who struck me as exactly the kind of woman my D*H would be attracted to once he gets his divorce. Yes, my mind went there, traitorous wretch that it is. She passed me several times, once kind of aggressively on a sharp curve, like I was in her way. She's gorgeous. I can't fault her for being young, tall, powerful, beautiful, brunette, and for having a really great ride form.

Envy...ouch. The fruit of a broken heart, I guess.

But I still felt pretty good about my ride, all the same. I stopped to help people who needed a water refill - a mother and daughter who were walking what they thought was a 3-mile path and it turned out to be 5, and a lot hotter than they were prepared for. I gave them one of my water bottles right out of my cooler from my car. They were very grateful.

I'll be 45 next Saturday. I think I'll try for 45 miles to celebrate.

My mom is 63 today. I called her to tell her I'd celebrated her birthday with 40-mile ride. She was really proud of me.

I'm proud of me, too.

Roxy