funny how...

...sometimes the very thing you blog about one day is the thing you need the next day.
Yep. I reminded myself of the quotation that I posted yesterday about a million times today during my ride. I did Pedal thru the Pines with some other T3 folks (Joe, Jeremiah, Kevin B., Kevin T., Matt, Yvonne, Travis, Scott, Shawn, Carrie, Esther, Yvonne, Anna, Liz, Lisa, David, Michelle, Jen...I think that was all of us. Sorry if I missed someone!). Here's a picture of some of us (thanks, Yvonne for the pic!):As Esther said, we represented T3 well...we rode hard, we were polite, we didn't cut in line or start early, and we left some food behind for others! The course started off in the park - with some hills. Not the rolling hills we so often experience here in central Texas but some all-of-the-sudden-a-small-mountain-is-in-front-of-you hills! Lots of dropped chains (not by T3ers, of course...until my gears got all out of whack - the "ghost shifting" of my bike today was comical! Going to J&A's tomorrow), lots of people walking bikes (not T3ers), lots of out of breath folks, lots of colorful comments! But once we were through the park, the roads leveled out, the winds and crosswinds picked up, the rolling hills felt familiar...and the ride brought us around to a great stretch on Hwy 17 and back to Bastrop High School where our 50 miles were complete. Unless you are yours truly and you miss the 50 mile turn and slip in a few extra miles as a result...comical. Or at least I made it so. Really, what else can you do? Well, there are lots of other things you can do, but none of them help me as much as trying to see the levity in all of it!
And guess what...maybe my laughter paid off. I ended up, averaging 16.4 mph. I know that's not much to a lot of folks but for someone who fights to stay at 15 mph most of the time lately, it's pretty exciting. I'll attribute it to Hwy 71 and my staying at 19+ for a good stretch of time (now I know how the super fast people feel all of the time...it's a different ride, folks!).
Lunch with T3ers...back to the PTC to grab my car but I paused there to do my PT while I caught up with Jess who was studying there. Home to clean up, throw some cookies together, and head to the Hall's pond for a little gathering. Finally back at home...sitting on my couch - which feels heavenly. About to set clocks ahead and then head to bed...I need some good sleep tonight to be ready for our run and other things that Sunday will hold. Happy springing forward (yeah for extra daylight...boo for missing an hour of sleep)!