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.