With a Little Help from my Friends

Did you know that it’s still dark at 6 a.m. now? I just realized that it was getting light later last week as I started my early morning bike rides in dim lighting and got to see the sun rise.

As much as I miss the light in the morning, it is a huge bonus at night when I can get my kids to bed a little earlier.

But I digress…

So yesterday morning, my cycling chicks and I met at 6:15 instead of 6:00. It was so nice to have an extra 15 minutes of sleep and – surprise of all – I actually got there five minutes early. I even remembered to bring some lube to treat my poor little squeaky chain that has been complaining for weeks. Maybe months. And I pumped my tire without giving myself a flat – what a good day!

TG40 came rolling in shortly thereafter and apparently I passed my bad mojo onto her for the week. Her tire was so flat that she couldn’t even get air into it at all. Neither of us had replaced spare tubes we used with recent flats, so sadly she had to leave us on four wheels instead of the two she usually smokes me with. Had it been me, I would have gone back to bed; she was planning to fit in a swim. So impressively dedicated.

Megan remembered that she lived right down the street and biked to our meeting spot this time. (Last time we met there, she drove and kicked herself about three quarters of the way through the ride when she realized what she’d done. But hey, it’s awfully early.)

We ended up starting our ride about a half hour later than usual. It’s amazing what a difference 30 minutes makes with traffic but it still wasn’t too bad. The only problem with this route is that there isn’t much chat time – a huge priority of mine – but we managed to fit some in. It’s so great to see my girls and catch up during the week.

We ended up riding 19.5 miles at 17.5 mph average. I’d like to reverse those numbers one day so that I’m riding at a 19.5 mph pace… but I think that would take a leetle more training than I’m currently doing! Maybe next year.

Beautiful day. Nice ride.

It’s all good.