BEAUTIFUL DAY, BEAUTIFUL RIDE

First group ride at Fort Lee, NJ! It's far from where I live, and I was fortunate to have a teammate that lives close by. Started the morning at 6:15 and head to the city to pick up another teammate. It was such a beautiful day to ride! The sun was finally out, but damn the wind! I think I was a little under dress, but nevertheless I was doing great and we were on our way for the 23 miles bike ride.

The goal was to finish the ride in less than 2 hours. Since not everyone rides at the same speed, so the other goal is to ride however many miles you can in the first hour, then turn around and try to ride the same amount in less than an hour. Another word, haul your ass back to the start! The 13 miles mark of this ride, the "pit stop" is a coffee shop, Bunbury's Coffee. Apparently Lance Armstrong once visited, sipping coffee and having bake goods, and that was the "prize" of the ride. My group "Saturn" almost made it! We were roughly 3 miles away, which is about 12-15mins more! Bummer. So in total our group did 20 miles in 1hr 40min. Not bad for our first ride!

At the end of our ride, I was all pumped and feeling great! I was thinking "heck, let's ride more!" I am sure I can easily do another 10 miles this morning. We end up leaving at the end, because I'm sure Coach Harlan didn't want us to over do it! So when I arrive home, I told Von about the ride and everything while we were having her famous yummy meatloaf! After lunch it's pretty much all downhill. I was suppose to take a 15 min nap, get up and start with baking cookies for the bake sale! So much for the 15 min and a production day, I end up napping for 2 hours! Also, thinking that I was all fine and dandy, my body started to ache, especially my thighs! I think the slopes on the 9W kinda kicked my butt! But have no fear, cause I know I will conquer this route!

While hanging out at Strictly Bicycles, I have realized that half of my dream came true! I'm in the motorcycle culture! Well, sans "motor", but basically the same concept: the gears, the clothing, the bikes, the techniques, the socializing, etc. I mean it's basically the same thing! But for sure, it is less expensive than motorcycles, less dangerous, and more healthy! So in this case, sorry Alex, I think cycling wins heehee =)

Me and the bike 6:15am! Ready to rock it!

Coach Harlan briefing the group about the ride.
We were split into 4 groups: Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Pluto.
Guess which is the fastest and not so fast...

That ain't snow. It's ICE! The snow melted and created all these streams of ice on the ride. It gets super slippery, and I did see someone fell.

Done with the first hour, and ready to head back! Looking good =)

I <3 my bike! Despise the all the shiny new bikes I saw throughout the day, I have no intention to get a new one! This is it, and this is for keeps! I LOVE YOU!

My riding companion