Easing Back Into Riding

I should be showering and getting ready for job #2 right now, but I can't seem to tear myself away from the computer! I'm beginning to think I have a serious problem with internet addiction. Usually when I think I'm addicted to something, I can quit it cold turkey and the problem goes away. But, since I have to have the internet for job #2, I have to keep it. So on the addiction goes.

Speaking of addictions, there are some addictions I can't seem to give up. Biking is one of them. When I try to stop biking, even for a couple of weeks just to recover, I go crazy. Withdrawal symptoms, I suppose. At any rate, I just don't foresee myself ever not biking.

Saturday I had to teach Spinning. None of the new instructors will take the Saturday classes, so the senior instructors are rotating weekends. I had a member of my class begging me to go ride the Alpine Loop with him after class. He'd been begging for several days, and I had told him no every time. Saturday was no different. I told him that I didn't think it was a good idea for me to go do the Alpine Loop while I was supposed to be recovering. He promised we'd ride nice and said that he'd even invited some newbies along to guarantee that the pace would be slow. I continued to decline. Slingshot was also planning to do the ride, and had skipped my class to stay home and get his bike ready to go.

But really, in the back of my mind, I thought I would go on the ride. I thought that once I got home I would see if my body happened to get on my bike and start pedaling up Provo Canyon. I would just go with whatever I felt like doing once I got home. And I was sure I'd feel like riding. Addicted!

Imagine my disappointment when I got home and realized that the group had left on the ride without me! I was pretty grumpy about not being able to go. So instead, I worked for job #2 and cleaned my office. I can't believe how the clutter and dust have piled up! My desk is looking a lot better.

On Sunday, I could stand it no more! I had to ride my bike! It had been three weeks since I had ridden (remember, the 5 mile mtn bike episode last Tuesday doesn't count).

Slingshot and I rode up Provo Canyon to Vivian Park at a super leisurely pace. It was such easy riding that my HR was way-off-the-chart low at some points in the ride. It was just the ride I needed.

It was so pretty up the canyon with the leaves changing colors and the trail covered with fallen leaves. Let me tell you a secret: Sunday is the day to ride the trail. Hardly any traffic to contend with. It was nice. I felt refreshed, rejuvenated, and at peace with the world again.

Ahhh!!!