Friday, May 31, 2013

And we're back

OMG. It's been a spring for the record books. Let's have a quick little run-down, shall we?

March: Bariatric surgery for me. No cycling for a month thanks to an overzealous husband who looked out for my "best interests". Of course, I had no energy for riding much farther than a couple of miles.

April: Still no energy, which meant that I did not participate in Paul's Ride for Life. I took Lily the hybrid and Beatrix the loop-frame to the bike shop for a check up in hopes that I'd be cycling again.

May: Brain surgery for husband. (The MRI ordered by his audiologist in April showed a mass, and three weeks later he was in the OR having a rock the size of a tennis ball removed from his head.) I spent the first half of the month driving 60 miles round trip to keep him company in various hospitals and the second half working at home so that I could keep an eye on him.

I did participate in Bike to Work Day on May 17 even though it felt like a cheat. I mean, I'd already registered and I did sort of ride to work; I just happened to be working from home... Nice swag, though. I loved this year's t-shirt and water bottle color. The Sterling/Orbital stop also had reflective wrist bands with LEDs. Sweet for night time hand signals.

Pretty Bea seemed a little bit out of place amongst the road bikes.
This week I made a couple of shopping trips via bicycle and they haven't wiped me out. Of course, the grocery store is only 1.5 miles away.

Sunday is the National Capital Area's Tour de Cure and I'm nervous about it. I'm riding the 14 mile route from Reston to Vienna and back with a girlfriend and I just don't know if I'll be able to do it. Scott thinks that the excitement surrounding the event will pump up my stamina. I think that the heat and humidity will crush it back down. It's not a race, it's not a race, it's not a race... And if I have to turn around early, that's okay.

Here's hoping my stamina improves so I can get back on the trail and roads before too much longer. I'm itching to feel the wind in my face and bugs in my teeth. Okay, maybe not so much with the bugs, but there are a lot of cicadas out there...