Bike of the Century.

Last week's weather was not good for training. Not a bad thing, I was able to help dad and mom out at the store a lot. Janet and I went for a six mile run with Clark and Molly around Calhoun Wed. evening. I pushed Bijou in the stroller, that was an adventure. She was only happy when she could stand and "surf" her stroller while we were running. That was rather tricky.

No bike training during the week, and last Sat's ride was cut in half due to cold rain. So today, we more than made up for it. The team (five of us today) meet in Afton, MN. We got a late start at at 9am and planned at least a 80 mile ride. Because of the great weather and the exceptional scenery, we decided to stretch it into 90. Because I am choosing to push harder and attempting to race it I raced ahead and tracked back to the group. I did that enough to break the 100mile mark today. It feels great to know that I can do it and even better to have done it on the course we took today.

About a half mile into the ride today we hit our first hill. Not a horrible grade but a good hill non the less. The not so funny part was that it was over a mile and a half to the top. Then down, then up a much steeper one, but not as long. Bob had warned us about the hill, that was nice of him. What he failed to mention was the 10 other major hills, that made the first one look tame, that were on the way out on our ride. And the fun part was that we got to turn around and do them all over again on the way back! Our turn around was in Maiden Rock, WI. along Lake Pepin. It was so worth it. Granted it would have been easier in a car, but it was so worth it. The end of my ride was filled with fun. Two weeks in a row I have gotten a flat front tire. Flats are definitely part of the ride.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to put in 10 miles running, but I have a feeling that I am going to need a day or two to recover. Today's experience with the distance and the hills supported the fact that so much of all of this is 80-90% mental. I had to choose to get to the top of those hills, it was not something that I ever thought I could do but I convinced myself that I could and I convinced myself that I liked it. At the end of the day I did.

What a man accomplishes in a day depends upon the way in which he approaches his tasks. When we accept tough jobs as a challenge to our ability and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles can happen. – Arland Gilbert