Back on the Bike

A yearly ritual is the first ride after harvest starts to slow. A cold winter rain's early arrival gave me yesterday afternoon off so I called my buddy Karl and arranged a ride. It has been almost a month since I have been on the bike with the exception of a few quick trips into town on the fixed gear for lunch. They hardly count. It was three or so before we got rolling and the wind was howling in off the ocean. Of course we choose to ride into the teeth of it. It was slow and painful going. The 1.5 hour loop would barely have sufficed for a warm up or recovery ride a couple months ago, but yesterday it was all I could get my pale legs to do to finidh this ride. I was a bit sore this morning when I woke up, but am feeling better now. The trick of course is to come back to some sort of form without injury. I'm going to try and force myself to do some gym time this winter. Karl signed on, which will really help. A training partner is key for an activity you're not terribly keen on.