It was a Forrest Gump kind of day

Forrest said, “I just felt like runnin’” but with Brenda today it was “I just felt like ridin’.”  This was one of those days that make up for days like Tuesday.  She got out there this morning and rode very comfortably out to the ride, and then had a good strong ride.  Afterwards one of the girls asked Brenda if she wanted a lift home.  She didn’t even have to think about it—she turned down the offer because she just wanted to ride.

I love days like that.  Everything sort of clicks, the weather is nice, the ride is nice… it really does make you want to just stay out there.  So now I figure Brenda is ready to take it to the next level.  She’s done a 60+ mile ride; now I think it’s time to get in a 70-miler.  And I think this will be fairly easy to plan.  There is a 40-mile route that we do on a semi-regular basis, that is, whenever we’re not riding with a group.  And there’s a point in that ride where we can turn and do an extra 15-mile spur out to a place called Fort Christmas.  (Yes, there really is a fort, from back in the days when they were building forts against the Native Americans, and it’s called “Christmas” because it was around Christmas time when they were building it.)  So if we do the 40-mile loop with the 15-mile spur, out and back, that gives us about 70 miles. 

I think it’ll be a good bench mark for her.  I think if you can do 70 then you can do 100.  I’ve always said that the toughest part of a century (100-mile) ride is from the 40-mile mark to the 70-mile mark.  The first 40 miles of course, is easy because we do that all the time.  And when I get that far I think, “ok, I’m almost half way.”  But then I have to ride 10 more miles before I really am half way.  And then I have to ride 10 more miles with the computer reading 50-something (which my mind still thinks of as half way.)  And then during the next 10 miles, the computer reads 60-something, and that always feels like it’s only slightly more than half way.  So I ride about 30 miles, all the time feeling like I haven’t moved off the half-way mark.  But then, as soon as I look down and see 70-something, then all the world is right again.  At 70-something the end may not be in sight, but it’s a heck of a lot closer than the beginning. 

We’re going on a bike Safari in April and we’ll have an opportunity to do some good long rides including a century.  Here’s hoping we can get in a nice 70-mile tuner-upper before that.