This week marks a first for me – I took the week off from work just to ride my bike. It has been an awesome week so far. I’m getting out on some of my favourite roads that I wasn’t able to explore last year. I’m riding long and steady – pushing my body and my brain. So far in three days I’ve ridden in warm temperatures and been overdressed, battled crazy wind/rain and been overdressed and finally today ridden in warmish temperatures and was dressed perfectly.

On Monday I did my longest ride in over a year. Just shy of five hours. Wow – what a day. I had a great ride but I also cracked in the last hour. Learned a big lesson – even though I’m feeling awesome – I still need to eat. More importantly, I need to eat more than I think I need to eat. Yes, made the classic mistake of not eating enough so the last hour was a bit of a death march. Not sure what the friendly guy at the MacEwan’s in Richmond thought of my salt encrusted face as I manhandled my bottle of cream soda (the pink kind). (Oh yes, pink cream soda in the bottle can be a lifesaver – try it and thank me later.)

Tuesday was a steady three hour ride with the real battle being the crazy wind and the fickle rain. Luckily I’m used to riding in the rain and thanks to my tendency to overdress, I didn’t feel cold… Today I rode with good pal Vicki S. – we talked for the entire ride – it was super to have such good company. (If only we could have done something about that headwind!)

I was just saying to Marc that I feel really good. My body feels good. I feel good about myself. I’m not stressing about what others are “saying” or “doing” – I’m just happy being me and living life the way it makes myself and Marc the happiest. And then as luck would have it, I read Katy’s website where she had posted this great video. (Watch it and pass it on.)