notes from the road

Well, I intended to go on an almost-30-mile cycle ride today. Things didn't go quite as planned.

The route I chose had me riding for a few miles into our local small town, then hopping on a local road for 12 miles (of which I'd only ever traveled 2 miles), all the way to another nearby town. Google called it 14.3 miles one-way. It would definitely have been the longest ride I'd taken to date. Not to mention that Able-Bodied Boy is out of town so my main support person for road mishaps was not around here. I was a little anxious about all of this.

So I start down that long road. A sheriff's truck passes me in the opposite direction, then a few minutes later passes me again at full speed, lights on.  As I came over a hill, I saw another police vehicle on the side of the road, lights on, another mile ahead. Then another cop passed me, and I saw another one approach the group of them from the other side and they were letting cars pass in the opposite lane. As I approached and slowed, I noticed it wasn't a traffic stop, and an officer with a shotgun told me it wasn't safe for bikes to pass and to go the other way.

Go the other way? The other way? Ummm.... the "other way" out in the countryside is a 4-mile detour. What the hell?? I bemoaned it and thought it was impossible for me to handle all the cycling that day. Especially since that detour took me up one side of Burden Hill, about a 1-mile climb - not a terribly grade but since I wasn't too sure about the rest of the ride, I didn't want to push it.

But you know what? I did. I went up the hill, and back around to the other side of the incident. I continued on, up and down hills, and had the most amazing time. I passed an alpaca farm.

I passed a picture-perfect creepy bog: a slimey pit of mud, surrounded by old, craggy trees, with just enough sunlight through the canopy to illuminate the creepiness, and it looked like it came straight out of the set of Harry Potter or Princess Bride.

I passed a strawberry farm, smelling so ripe and sweet. I passed a private school commencement for their 8th graders, with hundreds of parents and grandparents in khakis and skirts gathering under large, old oak trees while all the students in suits and dresses ran around or played with the band or let parents coat their legs with bug spray.

I made it home without incident. I climbed most of the hills without problem, although one major hill on the ride back required about 100ft of walking.

32.8 miles in 2:18 for 14.2 average speed. Rock on...

Any awesome accomplishments for you lately?

Much Love,
Able-Bodied Girl