Weekend adventures

Well another weekend, another bike ride. And another one where I was a bit in over my head.

I rode the Tour des Lacs this past weekend. On Saturday I rode by myself on a 100 mile route that was pretty hilly. It shouldn't have been all that punishing, but my body was a little beat up heading into it.

On Friday I worked at my cousins doing some deck repair, digging holes, mixing concrete, then moving about 6,000 pounds of materials uphill to the backyard. I was beat by the end of the day. Then a five hour drive to the start line, and about four hours of sleep before the ride. Not surprisingly, I struggled. The rest of our 7 riders were on a shorter course, so there was some time pressure to finish early so they weren't waiting around. I actually finished in the time I hoped, but it was ugly.

I rode with the group on Sunday, and we had two riders this year doing their first organized ride. Both had a great experience, even though we rode in a cold rain the second day. One of the newbies also offered up her home for us to stay in both nights, and treated us to a great BBQ on Saturday night. More wonderful people added to the biking circle.