penns cave

After a rather stressful week at the office - dealing with the transition of multiple people leaving and a host of new-found, highly technical tasks, i decided that i deserved a mid-day break... in the form of a road ride.

luna had a chunk of time free mid day and apparently a group of psu roadies were heading out at the same time. luna is looking and feeling much better these days so he's back out on the bike - just nothing too strenuous. noon -- rec hall... be there. i was increasingly nervous about the ride as the day progressed because i'm not fast, i just enjoy riding - tremendously - and i have a huge ego that does not suit knowing that people are waiting for my slow ass to catch up.

i also have not gotten out a lot lately due to schedule...so i wasn't feeling confidence about my fitness. as the kids showed up i slowly realized this was a boys ride... and that the boys were definitely not slow boys. i told greg i might drop off...

onward we went... we headed out through houserville to lemont and the pace was fine... out brush valley which is slightly uphill and i knew a spot where i could be potentially dropped. not so bad... i almost was dropped at one point but luckily someone had to stop for a minute and the pace letup. in the end, the entire ride wasn't all that bad. i was dropped on a few rollers coming home as i started to wear out some.

we averaged around 17 which ... ive held faster than that for multiple centuries this summer so it wasn't exactly blistering. but i was tired at the end as it's been a while since i've tried to keep pace.

in the end, it was a much needed break in the day - and i felt lucky to be able to sneak out of work for a ride. more riding to come this weekend - it's been long enough.