lovin' every minute of it

yesterday was so cool. you see, my older sons took a field trip with their school to st. louis. my wife chaperoned so instead of trying to figure out who we could get to see my other kids off to school, off the bus, etc., i just took a vacation day. after i dropped my daughter off at kindergarten and quickly ran a few errands, it was time. it was time to do something i haven't really done in almost 18 months. it was time to take a "real" bike ride. not a ride around the neighborhood, not a ride to a friend's house, and not a slow 10-miler with my kids. a real ride. the weather was beautiful - around 80 and not a cloud in the sky. i put on my vioxx cycling jersey (darrin is a merck pharmaceutical rep and he got me the jersey last year. i wonder if it's worth something now...) and padded shorts, grabbed a couple of gels, stocked up with one water and one gatorade, and off i went. my 30-mile loop has several rolling hills and one fairly significant hill at the 6.5 mile mark. a quick summary of my ride, stage 1:

- geez, that was a hell of a skunk
- my ass hurts a little
- why does it hurt to stay aero?
- #!@*, i don't remember this hill being this %$#!ing long!
- can somebody please find my lungs?!
- ok, i've gotta stand up for a second to get this seat out of my ass
- c'mon, i know i can do better than 17mph!
- the feel of sweating inside of my helmet is.... pleasing, actually!
- no, that's ok, dodge caravan, i didn't need any of road

stage 2: at the turn around point of my ride, there is a walmart and a little convenience store where i bought another gatorade

- ha! dodge caravan! goin' to walmart eh? ooh, the temptation to get revenge is almost overwhelming...
- the sun is feeling really warm on my neck and back
- i can't find a position where my ass does not hurt
- oh yeah, here it comes. now i get to go down the big hill!
- yee-ha! (i hit 44mph)
- did i mention that my ass really hurts?
- and here's the finish line!

all told, i covered 30.1 miles in 1:43, for an average speed of 17.6mph. certainly not lance-like, but acceptable under the circumstances. despite my back and butt hurting and getting sunburned on my neck, i loved every second of it. i had almost forgotten how enjoyable it is to ride and feel the wind and sun on me. i've been dying to get back on the bike. and i think my bike was smiling too.