Riding My Way into 2011

Happy New Year !

I was lucky enough to end one year and begin another in the best possible way - on the bike ! A short (too short) trip to NC this weekend found me riding on Friday in knee-warmers and arm-warmers, quite a shift from the Michelin man look we've all been sporting these past few weeks in the DC/MD/VA area. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to ride WITH Ken and his friends - a great group of guys. 60+ miles in 60+ degrees is near heaven this time of year. After a quick nap, a 2-hr yoga session with Laura helped to work things back into place seeing as I hadn't done a good, hard ride like that in weeks.

You could tell that our New Years Eve crew was comprised of mostly cyclists - everyone was either betting that someone else wouldn't make the early ride (8:15) or they were goading each other into more alcohol to make sure the later ride (10:15) would hurt. We kept it pretty low-key but had a great time. After a 3+hr ride and 2hrs of yoga, I knew I would be no good if I started drinking so I was in fine shape for the New Years Day ride. At least as far as hydration goes. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I suffered toward the end of the 40 miles - many thanks to Louie and Chris for limping home with me.

After a cluster of a drive out of DC on Thursday (don't ask), I decided to head home on Saturday to avoid the return-to-work exodus on Sunday. It was a good move - traffic was nearly non-existent until I hit Quantico and even then it wasn't bad. As an aside, why - oh, why - do people insist on riding in the fast lane when people are passing on the right ? Why do they pace the middle-lane cars who are doing the same ? And, if there's no one in the TWO right lanes, why is everyone in the left lane ? It was amazing to watch traffic stack up behind these drivers - I honestly spent a majority of my drive time in the right lane to avoid them !

Yesterday I joined with an un-named rider for my 65mile loop out of Howard County to Frederick County. The weather forecast said rain until 10am but it rained well into the 11 o'clock hour. Didn't matter - it was warm enough to start and we both wanted a good ride so off we went, even in the light rain. That came back to haunt me as we were finishing up - temps were dropping and I couldn't feel my feet. Another half hour or so and things might've gone in a bad direction. As it was, we finished the ride almost the exact same time as the last time we did it (almost a month ago) ... that doesn't sound like much, but given the prior two days of riding/yoga/riding/traveling, I was pretty darn impressed with myself. I'm not going fast yet, but I don't have to - I just have to "go" right now. About 170 miles - all up and down, nothing flat - in 3 days to end 2010 and start 2011.

I'll take it.