Fun in the Sun.

I'm back. Or most of the way back to my former self. It seems the sluggish riding of the waves has subsided and I found my row boat.

I had dinner with Shana, a friend of Andrew's, and her boyfriend last night. At first it was kinda stressful because I didn't know really how many people were going to show up - possibly two total people whom I didn't know/hadn't met before, if one group came Shanna's boyfriend might have had issues with someone from another group, timing was getting tight getting the food ready, etc... But it turned out great. One group didn't show up until the other was gone, which mostly resulted in no one being unhappy/fighting with each other. I made a kick ass raspberry pie I'm particularly proud of - I would take pictures of that and the fudge and rocky road brownies I made, but my camera's being weird. But basically - we drank and ate and were merry. Socializing is wonderful. Shana rides bikes as well and as she was leaving, suggested we go for a ride and go out for breakfast on Sunday.

So the next morning (far too early) we suited up, changed my tires (which are beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous supple monuments to awesomeness), and waited for her. Andrew showed up unexpectedly and then Shana did. We went to Besalu - the best pastry shop in Seattle, and I had my favorite Hazelnut Twist and an Americano. We decided to go South to Seward Park and then decide then how far we wanted to go. End result is that Paul, Shanna and I did the lake washington loop (Andrew had to bail early). Coming from Ballard and going back to Ballard makes the total around 65-70 miles - ish.

Keep in mind I haven't done a long ride in months, I've been "busting out" around 13 miles per hour at MOST doing my commute for the past few weeks and generally crapped out energy wise after 6-12 miles. We did over 60. And I was keeping a 16-19 mph pace on the flats (I still am slow going up hills). We had a great time and then CRASHED when we got back to the apartment. The heat/hot sun did Paul and I in, even though we drank lots of water. I'll bring my other water bottle next time. Paul and I are going to start doing the hills and some 30-40 mile rides during the week and then work up to a 100 miles doing a long ride on the weekend.

I'm happy (very tired and sore and sunburned) but very happy. I'm fast again and I spent the weekend with friends and had lots of fun in the beautiful summer sun.