I think I can....I think I can...

Well my friends, the time has come for me to commit and get my self in gear for the two races I signed up for - the Amtrak Century and the Levi Leipheimer Gran Fondo.  Not that I haven't been riding.  I have.  But I like to think of myself as a "tootler".  I tootle around the back bay and snap a few pics.  I tootle up Newport Coast and stop for a cup of coffee at the top.  I mean - this is what I am supposed to do right?  Enjoy the ride?  The problem is that with a 100 mile ride less than two months away, I haven't ridden more than 45 miles at one time in a year.  That's not good.  Truthfully I have been climbing.  Trying to not stop halfway up those hills and not use the granny gear ALL the time. And what I really want to know is - am I the only person that really doesn't get going on their bike for almost an hour?!  Like literally, it can be painful for that first hour.  Sometimes I wave the white flag at 15 miles.   Are age and infirmity setting in?!  I mean - I am 42 this year.  The age at which you start to hear people dropping dead of heart attacks.   I first met my in-laws when they were in their early forties and I thought they were so OLD.  Ha!  This is God punishing me for that obviously.

So - if you see a fat, old lady spinning her little granny gear up Ridgeline, muttering to herself, give her a thumbs up.  Maybe even a little push.  And remind her that she still needs to ride another 40 miles.