BIKING!

I had an epic weekend of biking the last 2 days. I'm competing in the Montclair triathlon in 3 short weeks so this weekend was all about the bike. My good friends Tamara and Stuart, veteran triathletes, met me on the Mt. Vernon trail for an afternoon ride. We were hoping for some sun, but as it turned out the overcast weather worked in my favor. I was riding Chip's mountain bike, not ideal for keep up with the speedy couple on road bikes. I was able to hang with them at a decent pace and we put in a solid 30+ miles in just around 2 hours.

I realized Saturday that I might just need to break down and buy a road bike. That's exactly what I did on Sunday!



It is a beautiful blue Cannondale Synapse. It rides like a dream. I got a new helmet too, so I no longer look like a mushroom head! After shopping Tamara and I headed to her house and hit the trail. It was amazing to keep up with her on her tribike without a ton of effort. We had a 25 mile ride planned down the WO&D trail towards Leesburg. We trucked along at a solid pace and despite my bum being super sore from Saturday I was feeling strong. At one stoplight Tamara took me aside and said, "OK, there are two more stop signs, then the trail opens up for a nice flat 3 mile stretch...you should just go for it...draft me, drop me, whatever." OK, this was it. We took off and I drafted for about a mile and then felt a rush of adrenaline...I dropped it one more gear and took off "passing on your left!", she replied, "You're pushing 24mph!". Shit. Now I'm pulling and she's drafting off of me. This is wicked fast, the rush was awesome. A few seconds later she pulls past me at 26-27mph. Wow. She is FLYING and looks so strong crouched on her tri bike...relaxed and in the zone, ponytail flying. Then, she drops me...the fatigue from Saturday caught up with me. I backed off--we still had to turn around and hit it 12+ miles home!

The rest of the ride was nice. We were tired, took and easy pace, and just enjoyed the sun on our backs, the headwind in our face, and the road flying beneath us. We topped off the day with a wonderful dinner and great conversation. I can't wait to get out on the trail again and start riding to work. I'm sooooo done with metro.