Went for a bike ride this morning

This definitely falls into the "what I had for cereal" category of blog entries, but I need to grease the wheels a bit to get back into consistent writing…

I went on a bike ride with Steve and two of his friends (who were on a tandem). It was a tough ride for me for lots of reasons:

1. It was windy out there!?Ǭ? How is it that wind can be ALWAYS in your face regardless of what direction you face?
2. The Austin "hills."
3. Longest ride I’ve done.
4. Riding with "advanced" riders is always intimidating… I was definitely slowing them down, but they were nice about it, at least.
5. And of course, I’m only starting to get comfortable with the idea of me in spandex.

Steve has been encouraging me to get some use out of my bike.?Ǭ? I’ve been down to the veloway (yeah, Austin has a veloway… who new?) a couple of times with him.

Oh, I probably ought to clarify.?Ǭ? The veloway isn’t the same kind of veloway you see in the Olympics with those odd bike sports with names like "pursuit" with fascinating rules (you must go slower than your opponent??Ǭ? Huh?).?Ǭ? That "veloway" looks like a bowl and those riders use centrifugal (centripetal?) force to defy gravity.?Ǭ? Austin’s veloway is just a one-way 3.1 mile paved road only for wheels (i.e. bikes and rollerblades; no dogs, no powerwalkers.?Ǭ?

The first time out with Steve on the Veloway (we do a lap around the veloway and then 8 miles total for an out and back on Mopac followed by another loop), I got cocky on the final lap.?Ǭ? I paid my dues by promptly puking out in the bushes.

Need to lay off the 20 lb. hershey bars.?Ǭ? (Super Wal-Mart on 620 has these suckers.?Ǭ? It’s almost comical… and, no, I haven’t eaten one, actually.?Ǭ? They don’t have almonds).