Bike love day!

this morning it was raining, but warm. it ended up taking me forever
to get out the door- and when i finally did, the rain had dried up.
i had planned on riding 2-2.5 hours today, but i felt good being out
on the bike. i was overdressed in a rain jacket and sweating and it
felt good. i was pushing at a pretty good endurance pace- a FAR cry
from hammering, but was focusing on smooth pedal strokes and keeping
a steady pace.

anyway, i was doing my normal route and i decided to check out a dirt
path through one of the forest preserves. i ALWAYS do the same
ride... there is not much variety out here... so it was nice to
change things up. MAN! it was GREAT! the leaves are changing and
it is still beautiful out. the path was a hardpack dirt- i think
that it is crushed limestone- and so it was easy to ride on with my
road tires. i was captivated. one patch of forest was still
brilliant green, almost a keylime green, with bright yellow way up
top. it was mind boggling. most of it was beautiful, but that one
stretch was spectacular. i got so distracted with my ride- that i
soon looked down and realized that i was on track for 4 hours if i
did not turn back soon. i was also afraid that i might get lost on
all the trails (they go all the way to wisconsin).

anyway, so i headed back and turned my 2-2.5 hours into 3.5. it felt
good to love the bike! i am on the TT bike tomorrow and am quite
excited about the prospect. i had my seat post slip constantly when
i rode before because i was missing a bolt. went to the shop today
and got another. it takes two. so, now i should be able to get a
good fit and keep it! i HATE a low saddle! anyway, so i am tired
and off to bed. just organized my data so that i can reanalyze it-
hopefully. turns out that i realize that i am missing some files.
not sure what happened, but it looks like the machine did not run
some samples... hummmmm... maybe i will have to do some work when i
got out to train. bummer- that whole "work" thing getting in the way
of riding! but i feel a little more optimistic today... baby steps.
got to just hang in there.

good night.