And, it begins . . .

Training for Vineman 1/2 AquaBike (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike)

Assignment: Ride 1 hour 30 minutes.

1 hour 30 minutes? Where? By myself? How? When? Why?

I thought I was going to be babysitting tonight (but it was canceled) so I decided to see what it is like to ride during lunch. I work very close to a nice long recreation trail and figured it would be a good place to start. At at 11:40am I headed out on my adventure.

The internal dialogue:

"Okay, here I go 45 minutes out, 45 minutes back."

"It's only been 2 minutes?"

"Oh, look it's the velodrome."

"What is that rubbing sound?" Stop and check the front tire.

"It's only been 5 minutes?"

"What is that weird feeling on my legs?" Who knew that my bike would kick up all of the pollen on the road?

"Why is it rubbing again?" Who knew that pollen and crap on the road would accumulate between my tire and brakes.

"Oh, look some geese and goslings. How cute. Please don't attack me."

"It's only been 7 minutes?" Okay, time to switch the mode on the bike computer from time to miles.

"I'm already to Bernal? It's only 4 something miles."

"Dude, its windy."

"My back kinda hurts. Zip up that zipper!"

"6 miles, 2 before I can check the time."

"I hope the wind gives me some help on the way back."

"Geez, I'm practically in Morgan Hill."

"7.5 miles almost there."

"Oh, look cows."

"8 miles! Let's check the time. Ah ha! 44 minutes perfect."

I turned around at 45 minutes and had the wind at my back the whole way. 16 miles in 1 hour 24 minutes, close enough. Maybe next time I will try the road. And, I think I need to add a destination to my workouts. Clearly, time isn't enough for me.