First training ride of 2004

Well, the weather was really nice today, so I finally got out and did my first training ride of 2004, in preperation for the Tour de Cure. I set a goal for myself of going about 1/10th the distance of the tour, or about 6 1/4 miles. I ended up going just over that, about 6 1/2 miles. Probably doesn't sound like much, but I was not riding on the nice, flat Silver Comet. Instead, I went to a state park that is about 20 minutes from our house and rode on some of the access roads. Also, except for a couple of short rides in my subdivision, I haven't been on a bike much in the last year.

I got off to a somewhat rough start, going up a rather steep hill. Though the weather was nice today, it was still just a little bit cool and windy, and by the time I got to the top of that first hill my lungs felt like they were on fire. I have mild asthma which mostly only acts up in cold weather, especially when I exercise, and although I didn't think it was that cold, apparently it was cool enough to make my lungs unhappy. It didn't bother me for long fortunately, and then I started really getting into the ride.

Not long after, I heard a rustling sound in the woods, and of course immediately assumed it was probably some kind of vicious, wild animal that was going to leave with a chunk of my leg. It turned out that it was a wild animal, but fortunately it was just a deer. I got just a quick look at him as he ran away. That was pretty cool.

So I ended up doing a complete loop around the park and was pretty happy with my accomplishment. I might have ridden a little longer, but I reached my goal. The sun was getting close to setting, and Donna and Scout were patiently waiting for me at the truck. They went for a walk on one of the nature trails while I went off riding. We all had fun but we were all ready to go, too.

I think I'm going to try to start going in the afternoons after work assuming the weather stays nice, and that I get home in time. It will be a lot easier to do that as the days get longer and especially once daylight savings kicks in. I need to start building up my mileage, I'd like to go maybe 15-20 miles during the week and take one longer ride on the weekends, maybe 40-50, and a maybe a couple of 60 milers before the big ride. I'd also like to take a few longer but leisurely rides on the nice, flat Silver Comet trail too. It's definitely gonna take me some time to work up to all those miles though.