this past week was a lost cause as far as biking went. Last week Saturday it poured rain and the ride was cancelled so I went to spin class instead. Sunday was nicer but I could feel I was coming down with something so I just did a short ride around Point Defiance. I figured the hill practice was good for me. The rest of the week was a dead loss as I huddled on the couch with a fever, aches and pains and loss of appetite (something that almost never happens with me). Tuesday was the worst day and things started to get better after that. By Saturday I felt I was able to ride again. The weather turned out to be beautiful. Our ride was scheduled to be about 70 miles - Kent, Auburn, Black Diamond, Enumclaw, Mud Mountain Dam and then return. It did not take me long into the ride to realize I was still feeling the effects of the flu. I just could not get up the energy to go faster than about 9-10 mph. (Lately I had been riding 12-13 mph). By the time I reached the sag stop at Black Diamond I figured that was as far as I was going. So after a brief rest Russ and I headed back. Instead of 70 miles I only did about 40 miles and that was enough for the day. This week I have to work hard on building my stamina back up so I can do next week's 70 plus miles. There are only a few more weeks of training left before Tucson.