Two Reasons to celebrate - had to share!!

[wildhawk]

I completed my first 50k ride and aced my cardio-stress test this week!! As some of you know, I was diagnosed with a 99.9% blockage in one of the main arteries leading to my heart last August and underwent stent surgery to repair it. I had to make some pretty drastic lifestyle changes. Long story short, I have lost over 55 pounds and began cycling again two months ago. My “dreadmill” walking was making me nuts - I am an outdoor enthusiast and nature photographer, so cycling fit the bill for my daily exercise. DH and I are training for the MS150 next May, so we signed up for some local rides to fit into our training. We just completed our first 50k on the Withlacoochee State Trail - a rails to trails annual ride. We would have ridden further but we got a late start, but it was enormous fun!!! We had nice, cool, overcast weather and the trail was gorgeous - 12 foot wide with plenty of room for cyclists to pass. We enjoyed seeing all those bikes!! We also stopped to rescue a chilled red rat snake who decided to warm up in the middle of the trail and saw lots of wildflowers and butterflies. We met so many other great people, learned alot about cycling and enjoyed the trail so much that we are planning on going back for a metric century and then a full century in the next couple of months. I had my yearly followup cardio stress test today and I aced it!! My doctor was very pleased with my progress and heart function. She said the cycling was definately paying off! Yay! So, I just wanted to share my joy and a few pics of the ride! Pics are taken at our first SAG stop, up at the north end trailhead and us with our trusty steeds along the trail.