Riding to Alexandria

The weather here in State College was absolutely gorgeous earlier this week. For those of us who stayed in town over spring break the weather was mighty kind to us ... until today. Today it was raining, sleeting, and tomorrow we might get 6 inches of snow??!?! craziness. But we can still be thankful for the earlier part of the week.

So, to capture the spring time weather yesterday, I went on a beautiful bicycle ride to Alexandria. Now, when I say beautiful, I actually just mean warm weather, as it was raining on us for the first hour of the 60 mile ride. However, it was 65 degrees the entire ride. Mike, Tracey and I were covered with mud and rain all over our faces and clothing. That made it even more fun! See picture above of my face speckled in mud. My bike was a mess afterwards ... covered in mud. It took a nice hour to clean it up and make it shiney again. I like shiney. Shiney makes me smile... like the photo.

It's soo much fun riding with Mike and Tracey. There's never a dull moment. 3hours 15 minutes of pure fun yesterday. The way home it stopped raining and I was in shorts and my jersey and not cold at all. Those kinds of rides make me incredibly happy. Once again... refer to picture.

Speaking of cycling... I did my first race since July 2005 this past weekend in Philly. It went all right considering I hadn't raced in forever and was still recovering from bronchitis. My passion for racing has kind of dwindled for the moment. After being forced to take a year off from training last year because of my hip, I've learned that there are so many other things in life that make me happy as well. So, I've turned into a bit of a fair weather rider and just keeping everything low key.... keeping it fun with no stress.

That's what makes me happy. :)