Still here, still riding.  Just to quick recap since my last real (as opposed to random thoughts as I walk past the computer, like the last post) post:

 Friday, 1/19:  Headed out to ride 70 miles.  Cold, windy day, but the sun was shining.  Didn’t get out the door till 9:17 am, 17 minutes later than planned.  Then I stopped at 30 miles to return a phone call, which took about 15 minutes.  Plus I was just slow.  Upshot:  I had to cut the ride short at 66 miles, so that I could get to school by 3 for carpool.  Lesson learned:  No more long rides on carpool days.

(Aside:  that night, our 13 year-old had a party.  We had 28 middle-schoolers in our house for three hours.  My anxiety about it was through the roof all week, but it actually wound up being fine.  The music was a bit loud for this old fogey, but other than that, I had no complaints.  Not that I’m volunteering to do it again anytime soon . . .)

 Saturday and Sunday, I was lazy.  Not lazy, really, since I was painting like a madwoman, but I didn’t ride at all.  Monday I rode the trainer and did core work; Tuesday I went for a 30 minute run.  Wednesday I took the day off in anticipation of my long ride. 

Which was Thursday.  I rode 80 miles, and you don’t want to know how long it took.  It was quite chilly, but calm and sunny.  Then it got cloudy.  Then the sun came back out, the wind picked up horribly, and the temperature started to drop.  Luckily I finished before, oh, nightfall.  All in all, a tough ride–this was the first ride in which the mileage bumped up against my current limits.  That’s a good thing–it builds fitness–but it’s hard work.

I was pleased with my brilliant route, though.  I mapped out a loop of exactly 30 miles, which is how far I can generally go before I really need a pit stop.  So instead of stopping at a gas station, I stopped at home, where I had left dry clothes, a sandwich, fresh bottles of sports drink, etc.  Then I rode the same loop again (managing to time the whole thing so that I passed Green Hope High School both before and after lunch, but not while the students were flying down the road talking on their cell phones and harassing unsuspecting cyclists), stopped at home one more time, then did a 20 mile loop in a completely different direction.  I was incredibly pleased with the whole thing, and the routes are simple, familiar, comfortable, and (mostly) dog-free.  When I told Lee about it, he said, “Well, I guess we know what you’ll be doing for 90 miles.”  Yep.

Took Friday off (I felt fine; just a bit sore on the tops of my shoulders–trapezius muscles, I think?  Not sure why they were sore, but perhaps I should work on that), then just a short recovery spin yesterday of about 10 miles.  I’m trying to remind myself to do quick little rides like that that make me happy, because if every time I get on my bike I’m just working hard and pushing myself, I’ll burn out in a hurry.

Today I was just lazy.  I can’t really think of a good way to justify it.