100 Miles 2-28-10 YEA 900 to go

So I got a late night text from my sister informing me of their Sunday plans: church at 8:30 and a ride on the new Marshal- Fish Lake Trail. I missed church but met up with my sister and her husband Dennis on their tandem bike. The trail is all paved and very flat and about 7 and half miles thus the perfect ride to bring me to 100 miles and it is 2-28-10! yea! Even though the sun went behind the clouds right away it was still warm and very pretty. I love the smell of pine trees! Did I mention that I was past by a young mom with a wagon and two, two year olds .... yish! I did pass her later! Although it was an easy ride compared to last weeks Seltice lake ride it was still fun to try out a new trail and of course spend time with my sister and her husband. Part of riding the thousand miles is to visit new trails and have fun and that definitely happened today. 900 to go!

So I am a little behind on the posting. Amazing how my life now revolves around the weather report. I can't help it I am a fair weather rider. whatever.... Today I knew would be perfect and well it was. Crisp and cold but not too cold and not the W word. That's right ...WIND! I really can't stand the wind it makes me feel horrid and that is all there is to that. hmmmm
I biked another 12 and half miles today easy ones but they do add up and well I am at 85 miles!
Sometime this weekend it is going to be sunny and dry or not quite so rainy and I am going to get on my bike and ride until I hit 100 ... by the end of February 2010! Only 900 will be left, piece of cake right?

Last Monday I rode 10 miles on the trail from Stateline to Liberty Lake, a ten mile ride on the trail and pretty basic. This weekend that same ride add a mile and a half and oh my gosh. The weather report said it would be sunny and breezy. Breezy heading out was nippy and refreshing. Breezy coming back was harsh and a struggle. Steve rode with me yesterday and felt sore and achy last night (he has not ridden since that first ride in January).
So today promised more seldom seen sunshine our friend Randy suggested we do a ride by his house. His words…”nice, not a lot of hills or traffic and about 10 miles. “ Reality was a little different. More like 12 and half miles and ok mostly rolling hills with few nasty ones thrown in, but the scenery was beautiful and if we can’t be cross country skiing this was fabulous way to spend a Sunday afternoon in February. We saw deer and herd of farmed buffalo. It’s February in the great Pacific Northwest after a previous year of record snows we get this pitiful excuse for a winter. Besides the wildlife we saw bees buzzing around some hives, a woman in SHORTS AND SANDALS washing her car and a man working in his garden…. In February!
Randy my heart thanks you for the great cardio workout and Steve who usually has a list of aches to report informs me in the last leg that “he feels better now than when he first started.” Mr. Encouragement himself!
Since 12 miles are not created equal it is obvious that I have some work to do, hill work that is. 
The good news is that I think that by next Sunday I will have a hundred miles in. Right now I am at around 73 miles.

February 13th I rode for 16.35 miles on a beautiful sunny day. I was not sure how far to go but it was so lovely I just kept going.Initially I had that amazing high you get from a kick ass work out. But by Saturday night I was hugely sore , though I felt well enough to go work out and do sprints at the gym on Sunday. The rest of the weekend was rainy nasty weather except Monday in the afternoon.Even though I was not feeling all that great, safe to say in spite of that the brief sunny looking skies drew me out to my bike and I biked for another 10 miles!
Valentine's weekend I added 26.35 miles towards my goal of a 1000 miles in 2010!
I am still amazed that we can bike in the winter. I am strictly a fair weather biker and I don't feel one bit bad about that. Maybe down the road I will get a mountain bike with snow tires but for now I will not ride in inclement weather.