Let’s see, my last ride was when? That’s not possible. Thursday August 9th? Yep, Strava confirms it, just one commute to work aside from that. I have not been off my bike this long in more years than I can imagine. Thankfully, despite too much bad food on my mid-month trip to Wisconsin, and too much good food on my most-recent trip to France (arrived home last night), I’m only 2 pounds heavier than I should be. Could have been a lot worse!

I was expecting 33 minutes up Kings this morning, so was pleasantly surprised at a mid-28-something. Would have been nice if I could have hung in better on the west-side Old LaHonda section, purely for photo purposes (you can just barely see two guys ahead of me, and the rest already well past the corner) but for the most part I hung in there, and the average speed was actually a respectable 16.8 mph. I can live with that!

Another interesting thing. I felt so comfortable on my bike, more comfortable that any seat I’ve been in for the past several weeks, certainly more comfortable than on the planes flying to and from France! My heart rate was higher than normal (to be expected after all this time off the bike) but I felt completely relaxed. Obviously I was born to ride.

No more traveling until… mid-September, which isn’t that far away, is it? Just a quick trip to Las Vegas for a trade show, and then a trip to Austin late-October for the National Bicycle Dealer Association’s long-term planning session (I’m on their board of directors). That one will be interesting since it’s in Austin, and I’ve wanted to see Lance Armstrong’s shop for quite some time. Don’t think I’ll bring by a copy of L’Equipe for him to sign though! –Mike–