I decided to resurrect our summer Girls Night bike rides for the season partly because they're fun and partly because I tend to push myself more when I'm trying to keep up with people and I'm working on ways to improve my speed. Also working from home can get a bit isolating and I have another friend in the same boat so we try to arrange little social activities here and there. We have boys on our rides sometimes, we don't care if someone has boy parts as long as they're o.k. with our jabbering and occasional stops for moments of whimsy and photos and Indian food afterwards.
Because life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
And sometimes it's good to stop and smell the flowers
We had a bit of drama before we even started the ride. I arrived in the parking lot to find one of my friend still sitting in her car, bike hanging out the rear of her hatch and a ski pole on the ground. When she finally got out of the car she showed me a big hole in her head and blood all over her bike. The hydraulics on her hatch are broken so she uses a ski pole to prop open the hatch door and this is not a practical set up for removing a bike. The door fell on her head and cut big hole, blood gushing everywhere. She hadn't lost consciousness but was shaken up and decided to forgo the ride. Thankfully that was the only bloodshed for the evening.
It was a short but sweet ride, just over an hour and we had the normally busy trails almost to ourselves. I'd had a good ass whuppin' at a Jane masters workout earlier in the day so I was happy for a shorter ride. I was able to keep up and even get ahead in some places. Usually I'm bringing up the rear. Maybe I am getting a wee bit faster.
