I guess I have missed a few weeks on these posts and need to do some catching up. My only excuse is I have been doing a lot of riding lately. Last week's Saturday ride was supposed to be 50 miles. Somehow it grew to 58 miles which is my longest ride to date. There were a few hills and Mitchel, the coach who was riding with me would not let me walk them. He told me if I stopped and could not start on the hill again then we would go back to the bottom of the hill and start over. What an incentive to stay on my bike! He also pushed me to get my speed up on some of the flat sections. By the end of the session I was tired but still not as tired as on the rides I did last spring. I am definitely improving.

Sunday I did not ride but went to watch Nicholas run in his first cross country race. The kindergarten distance was 1/2 mile up and down a hill. He did well. As Brian couldn't run with his broken arm, he cheered Nicholas and the others on his team.

Monday I rode with the Tacoma Wheelmen for the first time. That ride was around Point Defiance which has a lot of hills. I made it all the way around (albeit very slowly) and only had to walk a couple of steep hills coming out of the park.

Thursday I went with them again. This time it was a flat route on the Foothills Trail. Therefore I worked hard at keeping my speed up so I did not fall too far behind the others.

Yesterday's Saturday ride was around Vashon Island which is very hilly. I managed to ride most of them but some were just too steep so I walked (after going as far up them as I could). It was a pretty day for a ride and there were even a few places where I could enjoy the ride and the scenery rather than just keeping my eyes on the road in front of my tires.

Today I am going to enjoy lunch with my cousins.

This Saturday was another 40 mile ride. We started at Mercer Island, rode south along Lake Washington, back up the other side and across the I-90 bridge to Mercer Island where we rode around the southern half of the island. The weather was perfect for a bike ride. Coming across the bridge the water was so peaceful to look at. There were several hills on the ride, some of which I walked up. Coming down to the bridge on the Seattle side I took a tumble but luckily did not hurt myself. I more or less landed on my camelback and the water cushioned me. I definitely was tired at the end of the ride.

That afternoon I babysat with Nicholas. Brian broke his arm the day before and was in the hospital. Debbie had spent the night there with him and not gotten any sleep so Yangguang went to stay with Brian, Debbie came home to sleep and I watched Nicholas.

Today I went riding with a friend on the Foothills Trail. We rode about 20 miles. The weather was again beautiful. Quite a difference from last week when it poured rain.

Last weekend was a 40 mile ride from Kent through Auburn then up to Black Diamond then down through Green Valley back to Auburn and return to Kent. I had done this ride once before but this time I rode up the hills I had walked before. I also ended the ride in much better shape than the last time. It is so nice to see that I am improving.

My riding the rest of the week has been across the bridge again on Sunday, although this time I did not make it up the hill without walking. I figure I was still tired from Saturday. I also went on the Scott Pierson trail. I am almost able to ride all the way up the hill to Pearl. I thought I would be able to make the other hill on that ride until I lost my chain when I was downshifting. It took me a while but I finally figured out how to get it back on.

The boys have started kindergarten this week. They have been very excited about getting back to school and seeing their friends again. Tomorrow they have off and I will be babysitting them. If it is not raining in the afternoon we plan to go bike riding with Mommy.

I am not looking forward to Saturday's ride. It will be up hill to Snoqualmie Falls and beyond and will probably rain.