Another perfect day

The weather was amazing again. Not too hot, not too cold. I got out and rode for a couple hours. I drank my entire CamelBak pouch. I think it's a liter and a half. I actually probably should have drunk more.

Since I got my new bike Silver I've pretty much always stayed seated when going up hills. I'm not sure why. I guess because I always had to get out of the saddle on Mr. Fuji when climbing before. But today I tried to get up and dance on the pedals a little bit and it seemed to work well. At first I was climbing like I normally do, in the seat, trying to have a smooth, complete revolution. But then one time going up a hill a car passed me only to stop to turn left once it was in front of me. So I was half way up the hill with no momentum. At that point I had no choice but to get out of the saddle just to get moving again. I didn't stay up the whole time but I made it to the top faster. Another thing that I noticed was my heart rate was dropping lower faster after the climbs. I don't know much about heart rate stuff, so I'm not sure what that means. Maybe your heart rate drops back faster after you've been riding for an hour. Maybe I was just tired and not pushing myself as hard.

In preparing for previous rides I always thought of my training in terms of how many miles I put in before the event. This time around I didn't have an odometer on my bike so I tried instead to focus on how much time I spent on the bike. We'll see if that works out. And I'm also still trying to learn the best uses for my heart rate monitor. Now I know what my max heart rate is and can see what my average rate was during a ride, but I don't really know what those numbers mean. I'll have to do some more research.

During the ride today a mom asked me to stop for a minute. She was in the park with her two kids. She said someone had broken into her car and taken her purse and some other bags. She asked me to keep an eye out for the bags or any stuff that might have gotten tossed and to turn it into the park station. I don't know if it's all cyclists or just me because I look so nice, but people are always stopping me to ask stuff like that. Once before a grandfather with two grandchildren asked me if I knew where a nature museum was. And people are always asking for directions. Another time, a couple from Canada asked me for advice on what to do and see while they were in Charlotte.

I was nice and sore after the ride and really wanted a nap. Instead I got to sit at my desk for 8 hours. After work me, Steve and Tom rode by the Chipotle going up down the street. There were two guys inside who acted like they didn't see 3 dudes ride up at 1 in the morning on bikes covered in flashing lights. We know you can see us! There was a giant sign confirming that it is indeed opening Friday. Yes!

With the tour having a rest day Tuesday I'm going out to hit the links. It's been a while since I went golfing. I've been doing mostly bike stuff in my free time these days. But even with the golf I imagine I'll get out for at least a short ride. That just leaves Wednesday and Thursday, which I'll probably ease off on so I can be nice and fresh when the Booty rolls around Friday. I was talking with Luke and we agreed the Booty is properly named since with such a long ride your booty is going to be sore no matter what. Accepting that pain or the pain in my hands is probably going to be the toughest part of the ride. At least that's my guess. Unless of course it ends up raining, then rain will be the worst part of the ride. I'm just hoping this awesome weather holds out until the ride is done.