I bought my bike last week!

It needed some adjustments, so I finally got to pick it up on Saturday. It's beautiful. I brought it home, turned it upside-down on my kitchen floor, played with the gears, spun the wheels and just sat back smiling.

Fortunately, Sunday gave me a few dry hours in the afternoon and I got to take it for a ride on the Burke-Gilman trail. I did exactly 14 miles and definitely felt like I could have done more by the time I got home, if I had the time. Plus the sky was looking kind of gloomy on my way back so I was expecting rain... that never came. Turns out I definitely probably could have managed more, physically at least, because my legs are hardly sore today. It's supposed to rain all week, so that's going to put a damper on trying to go for another ride before the weekend. Oh well. It's supposed to be sunny again next Sunday, so I'm crossing my fingers for that and want to see if I can push myself to at least 18 miles.

I have an open invitation from 1 of my employers to join them on an RV trip at the end of July to Iowa where the dad will be participating in a 442 mile ride across Iowa, border to border. A few other participating bikers are paying for them to bring out their RV as their transportation and for sleeping during the week long ride. I wouldn't be able to do it anyways because of school and having to watch the other kid. If I didn't have school or another job and decided to join, I could buy a day pass and participate in just 1 or 2 days of the ride, but I still don't think I'd be ready for 50-80 mile rides by that time. But I'm tempting myself with the goal of doing the STP next Summer. All in the past week, I've already had a few people suggest doing it this year (mid July), but there's no way I'd be ready for a 2 day, 200 mile ride so soon. Besides, it's sold out, no spots left. But next year is a good goal to have, I think. Motivation to progress in my riding, get fitter, and make the $1500 I've spent on the bike, supplies, and gear worth it

I <3 my bike