Big Day

I accomplished something big today....and it feels good.

When I did the 'La Tuna' ride a few weeks ago, (my first group ride), I heard that, if I could do the La Tuna hill, and the Garbage Truck Hill in Griffith Park, then I have what it takes to do the ride.

I've been intimidated ever since.

But today was the day. I had conquered the Tuna, so now I was up at 5:30 to take out the trash.

It was really, really cold. I wasn't dressed for it (shorts, fingerless riding gloves), but I figured, either I, or the air would warm up enough that it wouldn't bother me once I got going.

I was wrong. It was cold, and it stayed pretty cold.

As well, when I woke up and saw how dark it was...that part of me that talks me out of doing things I don't want to do, was pretty loud. "You can't go out there..it's cold and too dark...YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A LIGHT". So, I thought, I can't go out there, I don't even have a light.". I stepped out onto the patio and back inside 2 or 3 times before I said, 'Screw you, I'm goin".

The ride was awesome. 5 miles, and 'The Hill' was about half of that. It seemed to keep getting steeper and steeper, and I thought to myself at one point, How slow can I go before I fall over sideways?

But I didn't fall over...and I didn't stop. When I reached the summit, the riders there could sense my elation and asked if this was my first trip up. They were very congratulatory and said that they didn't make it up without stopping their first time.

(maybe they were just being nice).

Still...it felt good. So much so, that I decided to take on an even bigger challenge tomorrow.

(Announcement to come on my facebook wall)

It's now 5:00 and I am tired. My body got a good workout. It feels good.