Getting Ready

First day of Spring today!  Of course this means the cycling season is getting closer!  I'm so excited!  I'm a whimp, so while my friend Barry has already begun riding his bike, I'm content for now to do my workouts at the gym.  It's got to get into the 60's before I venture outside on my bike.  Barry would be shaking his head with a disgusted look on his face at me right now, but I just can't take the cold!

First ride of the season will be "I made the grade" in Lewiston.  Last year was my first year that I had ever tried this one, and by the time I reached the top of the hill, I was telling my friend Eric, "I am NEVER doing that again!"  But, I don't think I can stay away.  And, I think I'm in even better shape than I was last year.  I finished the ride in under 2 hours last year, so we'll see if I can beat my time this year.  Surprisingly, I wasn't even sore the next day after this ride.  I felt really good.  Hopefully I can say the same this year.

The other ride I always do is "Eight Lakes Leg Aches"  this one is really fun.  Last year I did 45 miles, which was the furthest I've gone yet, and I will admit that this one about killed me last year.  If Barry hadn't been there, I would have been sitting on the side of the road crying at about 15 miles until the end of the ride.  My legs hurt so bad!  I think I may not have drank enough and gotten dehydrated, so I'm going to be really careful of that this year.  But Keith joined us last year, and he rode 30 miles with my Mom.  I plan on riding with him this year and letting him chose the distance, although I don't know about 75 miles!  He may only have the choice of  30 or 45.  :)

I want to look into a couple other rides this summer also.  There are a few in North ID that look like a lot of fun.  We'll see what I can find.  I'm loving having Keith along with me for the rides, so it would be fun to do a few more with him.